Being Aware
by ReneesWings
Summary: Tony finds himself in the middle of dangerous situation with no weapon and no way out. With nothing but his wits and the team stuck on the outside, can he and Gibbs get out in time? Sequel to Being Careful.
1. Chapter 1

**Here's my sequel to Being Careful. I hope you all enjoy and review!  
To everyone who was asking for a sequel to Free Falling, I'm going to write one, but I want to wait until I clear it up a little bit in my head. Also I don't know how many people watch movies from the nineteen forties anymore, I know most of my friends don't know what I'm talking about if I mention them, but there are some spoilers for Laura in here. Just a warning.  
Please tell me what you think!  
~Renee**

Gibbs stared at the plasma screen and scowled.

A murdered marine and her sister who could possibly be next.

Diane and Ginger Comings.

No leads.

No motives.

No anything.

How could there be nothing?

Something didn't add up.

And he hadn't had coffee in hours.

His hand twitched as he leaned closer the screen, narrowing his eyes at information written across the television.

No suspects.

No coffee.

And no second in command.

Where the hell was his SFA?

"McGee."

The young man jumped to his feet, his eyes wide and face pale.

"Gibbs?"

"DiNozzo."

"Um...I…what about him?"

Gibbs sucked his cheeks in frustration and turned his glare to the probationary agent.

"Where is he?"

"Oh! Right after you left for your meeting he said something about a...a poisoned goose, I...I don't know. Then he took out of here like a shot and I don't know where he went. Then he called and asked for an address and told me to pull the records of a Brandon Howard."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"And did you?"

"Did I what?"

Gibbs clenched his fists. There was a reason he only dealt with Tony and DiNozzo usually took care of the other agents.

"Did you get him what he needed?"

"I got him the address but the records, I um...Well...you were in the directors office and I didn't know if you-"

"McGee, did you pull Howard's records?"

McGee dipped his head.

"No Gibbs."

Gibbs drew a deep breath and took a step towards the agent's desk.

"DiNozzo is my Senior Field Agent. And that means when I am not here his word is as good as mine. You got that McGee? When he gives orders, you follow them. Now pull the d*mn records."

McGee paled even more, which Gibbs thought was impossible and nearly dropped into his chair, his fingers typing frantically.

"Yes sir."

Gibbs growled in the back of his throat but before he could ream him further the elevator dinged and a familiar voice floated over the desks.

"...And believe me, that was a pretty big mistake."

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs bellowed.

"Coming, boss."

Tony appeared in the bullpen, a large angry looking man in handcuffs in front of him, blocking Gibbs' view of the younger man.

"DiNozzo. Bringing home a friend for dinner?"

He could hear the smile in his voice though he still couldn't see his face.

"I don't usually bring playmates in handcuffs, but since you're so approving, I'll keep that in mind. Meet Brandon Howard, the man who is about to become very familiar with our interrogation rooms."

Gibbs nodded thoughtfully and waved at two agents who were chatting nearby.

"Johnson, Dell, take Mr. Howard to interrogation one please."

The two agents stepped forward and pulled the man away from Tony, revealing the agent for the first time.

Gibbs blinked once at his appearance.

His suit jacket was ripped and there was a dark bruise already forming on his cheek.

Gibbs' eyes narrowed and he stepped forward about to speak, when Tony raised a finger and whistled.

"Wait..."

A woman ran up and handed Tony a coffee.

"Here you go Tony."

He gave her the now infamous DiNozzo smile.

"Thanks Peggy. I owe you one."

She blushed and giggled.

"We're even. I would have been stuck on the side of the road forever. I never could get the hang of changing a tire."

With that she smiled and disappeared back to where she came from, waving at Tony.

Tony grinned and handed the coffee to Gibbs.

Gibbs stared at the cup and then DiNozzo for a long moment before reaching out and snatching the steaming beverage from his hands and pointed to the elevator.

Tony sighed and nodded, turning back around and stepping to the metal box.

Gibbs' eyes narrowed at the slight limp he saw Tony was trying to hide.

"Since we're here, we might as well go down to Abby, I dropped some stuff off for her to check."

He leaned against the wall and ignored Gibbs' look, choosing instead to stare at the ceiling.

When he felt the elevator jerk to a stop he swiveled his gaze back to Gibbs' and grinned.

"Now, in my defense, I just had a couple questions for him, something I needed to check. I didn't know he was going to...well…yeah, but he only got in a couple swings."

Gibbs raised an eye brow and stared pointedly at the torn jacket.

"A couple swings huh?"

Tony's eyes flickered away.

"It was a good punch. But worth it."

Gibbs doubted that. He didn't like it when his people got hurt, but that feeling intensified when it was Tony. He couldn't explain the fatherlike attachment he felt towards the younger man, but he wasn't going to study it too carefully. He bit back the sigh and asked the question the he knew Tony was dying for him to ask.

"What did you find?"

Tony's smile was dazzling.

"The murder weapon."

Gibbs paused and then took a long sip of his coffee.

"What happened?"

"Laura."

Gibbs stared at him, but nothing was coming.

Tony sighed.

"Laura. A film noir from 1944 directed by Otto Preminger. All about a woman who was murdered and a case of mistaken identity and then the woman who was thought to be killed was almost murdered by an obsessed admirer. Great movie, classic. One of my favorites. Not to mention it got me thinking about our murdered marine and the similarities between her and her sister. I went back the crime scene and checked out Ginger's room instead of Diane's. Something just felt off. Her room was a disaster, stuff everywhere, a complete mess, typical twenty one year old's room. Except... for one of her windows. It was spotless. No dust had settled. It was like the entire window, the sill the glass everything, had been cleaned recently. The others were disgusting. Dirt, fingerprints, the whole nine yards, but _not_ the one on the end."

Gibbs tilted his head back in realization.

"You think our killer came in through the window and erased his tracks."

Tony nodded.

"Through Ginger's window. He was waiting for Ginger. What he got was Diane. But it's dark, the two look a lot alike, he's seriously ticked off and shoots before he looks. And after shooting someone in the face..."

Gibbs knew what he wasn't saying.

"There isn't a lot left to make sure you got the right person."

Tony sighed and picked back up.

"So I started to dig into Ginger's stuff and found something interesting in her journal."

Tony paused and screwed his face.

"I don't care how long I've been in law enforcement, it never feels right to go through something personal like that."

He shook his head and refocused.

"She wrote something about a date that went wrong a couple months ago, it was a blind date, but the guy kept calling and wouldn't take no for an answer and she was starting to become scared. She found him once waiting for her outside their home and she called the police. When he was asked to leave the property she said he became volatile and dangerous. I thought it was worth checking."

Tony stretched and began to pace back and forth in the small space.

"So I called McGee for the address and headed out there. He answered the door, took one look at my badge, came at me and ran back in the house and tried to grab a shot gun."

Gibbs' gripped the coffee tighter at the thought of Tony without back-up and down as a potential murder got a hold of a shot gun, but Tony was oblivious.

"Thankfully I got to mine before he reached the weapon. 12 gauge, matched our murder weapon to a tee. Handcuffed Howard, stuck him in the car, bagged and tagged the gun for Abby. She ran into me when I was walking him up here and took it off my hands."

Tony paused again and pursed his lips.

"I think that covers everything. You're all caught up."

Gibbs stared at him for long minute then took a draining gulp of the now cool coffee.

"I was in a meeting for less than two hours. You did all of that in less than two hours?"

Tony grinned again and winked.

"Work smarter, not-"

"Harder. Yeah, I've heard. DiNozzo…the next time you go somewhere without back-up, I'm shooting you myself."

Tony chuckled.

"Get in line Boss."

Gibbs shook his head and flipped the switch sending the elevator back on its journey.

"And to think Kate said we wouldn't get a thing done while she was out of town."

Gibbs rolled his eyes but didn't respond. The team could get on just fine without Kate. And McGee. But take Tony out of the equation and they crashed and burned. They learned that the hard way when Tony had a horrible case of the flu a few months ago and had missed four days of work on Ducky's orders.

When Tony came back there had been four plates of cookies on his desk and a pile of get well cards all telling him that the next time he gets sick, he sure as hell better sneeze on Gibbs and take him with him. Either that or never get sick again.

Ever.

Tony had bit back a smile and asked Kate if he had been missed.

She couldn't even deny it.

And neither could Gibbs, he simply opted to not answer the question.

That had been answer enough for the younger man who had simply smiled and settled himself behind his desk, humming the theme song to some tv show from the eighties.

That reminded Gibbs.

"Poisoned goose?"

Tony looked up at him with confusion.

"Excuse me?"

"McGee said something about a poisoned goose, I'm assuming that led to all of this."

Tony huffed.

"A poisoned...no. Ducky had come by and said something about his mother calling him a silly old goose and then McGee was bidding on antique ink pens and it reminded me of a quote from the movie. The killer from the film at one point said, 'I don't use a pen. I write with a goose quill dipped in venom.' Everything clicked."

Gibbs nodded and stepped forward as the doors dinged.

Tony began to follow him, but paused when he saw where they ended up.

"Autopsy...Boss I _don't_ need Ducky!"

Gibbs narrowed his eyes and pointed to the sliding doors.

Tony sighed and slid his hands into his pockets.

"I'm fine Gibbs."

He said nothing.

"Fine. Fine, I'm going. But let me tell you boss, you have a serious problem. No other authority figure has ever forced medical attention on me. I think you have some sort of complex, you should have that checked out. No one else would do this."

He shook his head and walked through the doors, calling out a cheery greeting for the doctor.

Gibbs rolled his eyes and watched him go, murmuring to himself.

"And that's why I do it. Three years and you're still reckless."

Gibbs crossed his arms and relaxed, allowing Tony a moment alone with Ducky and himself some space to think. Heaven knew he needed it. He leaned against the wall and looked up at the ceiling and now that Tony wasn't around to see, Gibbs allowed the smile that he had been hiding to show.

In less than two hours, he had taken a case that completely empty, cold before it even started, and cracked it wide open. Found a motive, a suspect, the weapon and then brought it all back to headquarters wrapped in a nice little handcuffed bow.

Three years, four months and six days.

And he still had tricks up his sleeve.

Gibbs shook his head and pushed himself off the wall.

Time to see what the tricks had cost him.

Xxx

Tony whistled as as walked up the stairs to his apartment.

The day hadn't quite gone like he planned, Gibbs had nearly blown a gasket after seeing what Tony had hidden from him. So maybe the first punch had ended with the two of them rolling down some cement steps. And maybe Tony had ended up on the bottom and taken most of blows. In the end, Tony had reached his gun first and brought the guy in.

And after three minutes in interrogation with Gibbs he had cracked.

Case solved.

Tony was celebrating with a night of pizza and watching Laura in honor of its' inspiration.

Or not.

Tony paused when he saw the two pairs of feet.

He sighed and smiled.

"Hey Mags, Greg."

The four feet became two people as the two kids popped up from laying on their backs outside his door.

"Tony!"

The little boy jumped up and ran at Tony, throwing his arms around his legs.

"Hi Tony!" the little boy lisped smiling up at him.

Tony grinned and reached down, swinging the girl up on his hip while the boy gripped his leg.

"Hey Greg, you're so tall! I just saw you a week ago, what happened? How are you Maggie?"

The girl smiled at him, revealing a missing front tooth. She swung a backpack around and handed it to Tony who smiled at the dolls sticking out of the top.

"I'm fine Tony. Daddy said we should come visit. Mommy's doesn't feel good and she's shouting a lot. She looked angry."

Tony's brow furrowed and he glanced behind him towards the stairs.

That was strange.

Jonathan was always coming by to find his kids and apologize for them following Tony around like shadows. Tony had never minded, they reminded him of Tessie and helped fill the empty space that losing the Alexander's had left behind. He loved spending time with the kids and had told Mr. Eliot that several times until the man didn't bother trying to keep the kids away, but he never_ ever_ sent the kids to him. They always just showed up.

Leaving his kids alone in the hall, especially when Tony wasn't even home...something was wrong.

And for Cassandra to be shouting...

"Tony?"

Tony smiled past the worry and reassured the children.

"Hold on guys, let me get my keys and you can go pick out a movie. Did you guys eat supper?"

The two kids exchanged looks then grinned.

"What are you having?"

Tony chuckled.

"I was going to have pizza."

Greg threw his hands in the air.

"We haven't eaten!"

Tony laughed and pushed open the door, struggling to get through the doorway with Maggie's arms cutting off his air flow and Greg gripping his knee.

"Here's your drop off."

Maggie and Greg laughed and dashed over to the shelf of DVD cases, each pulling their favorites.

Seeing them settled, he locked the door behind him and went straight to his bedroom and placed his weapon in the safe, the first thing he did every time the kids came by. He was never going to take the chance, no matter how uncomfortable he felt without the gun nearby. Double checking the lock on the safe he closed the door behind him and walked back into the living room and checked on the two.

They stood holding handfuls of movies, arguing over their favorites even though he knew they hadn't even seen most of the ones they held.

Tony smiled at their chatter and picked up his cell phone, concern creeping up again.

Before calling for pizza he dialed an unfamiliar number, he seldom used it, but kept close by. With the kids popping by as often as they did, he kept the number handy but he had seldom had to use it. Only to let Jonathan know they had followed him upstairs or if it was okay if he fed them pizza.

But now he was having a Gibbs moment and his gut was telling him something was going on.

The phone rang endlessly.

Finally someone picked up.

_"Hello?"_

The voice sounded strained.

"Jonathan?"

_"Yes?_"

"This is Tony from downstairs, I was just making everything was alright."

_"Oh yeah, I um...Cassandra and I are having… I really didn't want the kids around here. They spend so much time knocking on your door, I didn't think that you would…. I….do you mind?"_

Tony glanced over at the kids who were tearing his living room apart and grinned.

"Of course not. I don't mind at all. I love having them here. I just wanted to make sure everything was alright."

Jonathan hesitated.

_"We're having a difficult time, Cassandra decided to stop her medication and I'm trying to convince her to get back on it...she's a little erratic right now from the withdrawal and I don't want the kids to see this."_

Tony narrowed his eyes. He didn't know Cassandra took medication. It didn't matter to him, but he knew that stopping certain medicines suddenly and then trying to start back up again could really screw with your head. It could get messy. And dangerous.

"Do you need any help?"

He could practically hear Jonathan shaking his head through the phone.

_"No, I can handle it, we've done this before. Thank you though. I'll be down for the kids in a little bit. Are you sure you don't mind?"_

Tony looked back at the children who were making giant piles of his DVD's and pulling toys out of the backpack.

"I don't mind at all, but call if you need anything Jonathan, alright? Please don't hesitate."

Jonathan agreed and thanked him again before quickly getting off the phone. Tony looked at the display that showed the ended call for minute, conflicted as to what he should do next. He could go up there, make sure everything was alright. But the kids...if things were unsettling, he didn't want to expose the children. But if Jonathan needed help...  
Tony sighed.  
Jonathan had done this before. Everything would be alright. Besides, Jonathan wasn't a stupid man. He would call if things got out of control. He knew Tony would help in a heart beat. They weren't close neighbors, but everyone in the building knew Tony was the guy to call if you needed a helping hand.

"Tony, we're hungry!"

"What do you want on your pizza?"

"Cheese!"

He shook his head at the thought of a plain cheese pizza but dialed the pizza place anyway, placing his order quickly.

"Tony! Come play!"

Tony turned his attention back to the kids who had built a road out of DVD cases and books were driving hot wheel cars up and down it.

He smiled and pushed back the uneasy feeling lingering from the phone call.

Everything was fine.

Of course it was.

Tony jumped over the couch and settled himself on the floor, smiling.

"Want to play Tony?"

Greg offered a car.

Tony reached out and took and car, studying the tiny mustang.

"I'd love to."

Maggie smiled and crawled over with her dolls and sat on the floor next to him.

Together they started to make a castle out of DVD's.


	2. Chapter 2

**So I stayed up waaaaaaay too late last night writing this chapter...and then forgot to post it. I swear I am too young to be this confused. Coffee. I need to start drinking coffee. College student and I don't drink coffee, there's something wrong with that I think. Anyway I'm rambling, here's chapter two.  
Thank you so much to everyone who is following and favoriting and reviewing! It makes my day and makes me smile every time. I don't really know how many chapters this will have yet and as for updating, I will do my best to consistent, but life has a tendency to get in the way so there is no way of knowing. I'll do all I can though!  
Also I know this my seem like kind of a weird beginning, but it is going somewhere, trust me!  
****Thanks for reading! Please tell me what you think!  
****Renee**

Tony pulled the blanket up and covered up the kids, smiling fondly as the two automatically snuggled into the pillows and sighed contentedly.

He thought for a moment on what it would be like...having two dark haired kids, safe at home, spending hours together and making sure they had everything they would ever need. Being the father he always wanted, giving the love and attention he always prayed for…

Tony sighed and brushed the thoughts away. He wasn't exactly on the fast tract to gaining a family. Best to leave those things alone. Thinking about them too much only makes him wish for what he didn't have, and right now what he did have was pretty d*mn good.

He shook his head and walked over to his dresser and one of the only empty sockets in his room to put a nightlight in the wall.

He pushed the Scooby-Doo light in the socket and paused, crouched down next to the glowing dog.

_Why do I even have this? Where on earth did this come from? _

He shrugged and straightened, glancing back over to the sleeping kids.

They were out for the count.

He didn't blame them. He certainly was tired.

Hours of fort building, movie watching and an endless game of hide and seek, he forget how much energy kids had when you had unoccupied hours and undivided attention.

Not to mention the work day.

Wasn't exactly how he expected his evening to go, but oh well. It was worth it. Maggie and Greg lightened his mood better than a movie ever could.

He cracked the door to his bedroom and stepped back into his living room, whispering a prayer of thanks that he had washed his sheet the day before and had ended up not sleeping in his own bed last night, ensuring that his room was relatively clean for the children to sleep in. He grinned, remembering falling asleep on Gibbs' couch after the man declared that three glasses of bourbon was too much. Of course the couch had been a compromise. He refused to take the guest room, he didn't want to be that much a bother. If he was going to drink too much then he was going to put someone out as little as possible. But the look on Gibbs' face...he didn't look put out. He looked…

Weird.

Tony yawned and maneuvered around the fort, roads and three story movie house they had made on his living floor in an effort to get to his couch. He paused on the way to pull Aladdin from his decrepit VCR. The kids had found all his old VHS tapes that he had never gotten around to getting rid of and had been delighted at the selection. He knew he had probably been too old for those movies when they had first been released, but he didn't care. He was honestly kind of attached to Aladdin. It had become a quiet personal favorite, especially how he saw so much of his own personality reflected in the lead character.

_"You're only in trouble if you get caught."_

He was definitely used to getting in trouble, but he usually got himself out of it before anyone was the wiser. Not with Gibbs around though. The man seemed to make it his own personal mission in life to pull his butt out of the fire. It was so strange. Tony could get himself out of just about anything, but Gibbs seemed to have a vendetta against Tony getting himself in dangerous situations, no matter what he was going after.

Something his old chiefs had never had a problem with.

Hell, something not even he had a problem with.

If it got them somewhere, he would put himself in the line of fire, especially if it meant keeping someone else out of harms way.

Yeah, Gibbs had a real issue with that.

Particularly when it was Gibbs that he was trying to protect.

Settling on his sofa, he put his head in his hands.

He _really_ didn't know what to make of Gibbs.

Three years of working with him and the man still confused him.

Tony sighed and leaned back on the couch, staring at the ceiling.

He had never had someone treat him like Gibbs did.

Not even Daniel…

His lurched to his feet, driven to movement.

Whenever his thoughts even drifted in the slightest direction of Daniel he had to move. Had to distract himself.

He just couldn't think about it.

Couldn't face it yet.

Three years wasn't enough to take away the pain.

It still felt raw.

He walked to his kitchen and opened the fridge, pulling a slice of pizza from the cold and tossing it on a paper plate.

While his microwave spluttered and popped he leaned on his counter and let his eyes drift over his little home.

It was definitely a step up from his last one. His old apartment was falling apart and he could potentially be making an arrest every time he walked through the doors.

Not this one though.

This one had a pool.

And cable.

A ceiling with no cracks.

Hot water _all_ the time.

Oh yeah, he was spoiled.

Tony grinned and thought back to the day when he went looking for a new place to live. More than likely he would have ended up in place just like his old home.

If it wasn't for Gibbs that is.

He could remember the day like it had just passed.

He had walked out of the old motel intending on finding an apartment and instead he found Gibbs leaning on his car, holding coffee and looking at him like he was late.

_Tony looked at him with confusion. _

_What on earth was he doing here? _

_Did he miss a phone call?_

_He surreptitiously checked his phone._

_No missed calls._

_Okay…_

_He looked back at the man, who was watching him steadily and sipping on the steaming coffee. _

_This was weird._

_Tony internally shrugged and stepped forward until he was next to the man then in a graceful move he turned and leaned on the car himself, studying the motel he just left. _

_"You lost?"_

_"Nope."_

_Tony looked at the man and then back at the motel, curious if he was here to arrest someone. This wasn't the best place in town, rather seedy neighborhood...it wasn't implausible that someone could be hiding there…that would be his luck._

_"Got your list?"_

_Tony was shaken from his thoughts._

_"What?"_

_"Your list. You ready to go?"_

_"Go? Are we leaving?"_

_None of this was making anymore sense._

_Gibbs rolled his eyes._

_"Yes DiNozzo. You're not living in a motel. Definitely not this motel. Come on, let's go."_

_And go they did._

They searched through half a dozen apartment buildings before they even found one that Gibbs didn't growl at. The first had bad wiring, the next had something with the plumbing. The third had a large hole in the ceiling and you could see straight into the apartment above it. Gibbs seemed more concerned that someone could look down at Tony than that Tony would be spying the neighbors but either way neither of them were having it.

The others Tony didn't even understand what was wrong, Gibbs had just grabbed him and dragged him back to the car without a word.

They had finally settled on the friendly one bedroom apartment a few miles away from work.

And while Tony still wasn't sure how he got to the point where he was compromising with someone else about _his_ apartment, he was grateful for the interference.

It made him feel...special. Cared about.

Something he didn't feel very often.

The microwave beeped and he turned, pulling out the pizza and heading back to the couch. He jumped over the back of his sofa and pulled his legs under him, munching on the pizza and lost in thought. Gibbs hadn't been back since they found the place, but he made a point to invite him over to his house every once in a while. They didn't do much, drink bourbon and work on the boat. Well Gibbs worked on the boat. Tony mostly watched him and marveled at how simple pieces of wood could become something so amazing at the older man's hands.

It gave him hope for himself.

Tony swallowed the last bit of pizza and got rid of the trash and wandered back down the hall, glancing in the crack in door to check on the kids.

Half the blankets were kicked off and Greg's face was by Maggie's feet.

_Please don't let her start kicking._

Tony smiled warmly and turned back, eager to get some rest himself. It was nearing midnight and he was exhausted.

And worried.

He thought Jonathan would have called by now.

He considered calling but he didn't want to interrupt.

Not if Jonathan was making progress.

He knew from hard personal experience that once someone was off their meds it was hard as hell to get them back on. Especially if it was something they needed. Besides he had met Cassandra before and she was a sweet lady, on the quiet side, but smiled at him when they met in the hallway, and always stopped for conversation.

If Jonathan needed help he would call.

He trusted him with the kids and if that's what he needed, then Tony would take care of them as long as he needed.

But if he didn't hear anything by morning, he was calling.

Tony leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes and put his cell on his chest.

Just in case.

If Jonathan called he would answer.

In a heart beat.

Xxx

Jonathan put his hands up and took a step back.

"Cassie...sweetie...please. Just calm down. Everything's fine. I promise."

Cassie jerked forward her arms swinging and Jonathan jerked away.

"Liar! Where are my children!"

Jonathan watched her hands carefully.

"Cassie the kids are fine. It's me. You know I would keep the kids safe. They're with a friend. They're playing."

Cassie shook her head and stomped her foot.

"NO! No it's not safe! They're not safe! They need to come back! You took them away! It's dark, where are they?"

Jonathan winced and reached out.

"Cassie, they can come back, but you need to put down the knife down okay, just calm down."

She gripped the weapon tighter.

"No! I have to protect them! I have to! I have to! I…where are my kids! John...I don't know what's going on...I'm"

Cassie leaned over and put her head in her hands, the knife sticking in her hair. She cried out in pain and began to shake.

"No no no no no." She moaned over and over again.

Jonathan tried again to approach his wife.

"Cassie please. Let me help you. Give me the knife and I can help you. You need your medicine. It can help. "

Cassie jumped away and pointed the steak knife at her husband, her hands shaking. He knew he could come at her and take the weapon, it wasn't even sharp, but he was scared to death of hurting her in process. This wasn't her fault, she needed her medication, the brain tumor was getting worse and the medicine was the only thing keeping her on her feet. She was just confused.

And scared.

So was he.

"No! I don't want the medicine! You can't make me! I won't take it! I won't I won't I won't. No! I want my children! I want Maggie and Greg. Maggie and Greg. Maggie and Greg."

Jonathan stepped forward.

"Cassie."

She looked at him with tear filled eyes.

"Please….please just tell me where they are. I want my babies, please. Please tell me."

Jonathan looked steadily at the knife before he murmured.

"They're visiting Tony. He will keep them safe, you know he will. Now let's talk, please."

Cassie visibly relaxed.

Tony.

Tony helped her carry the groceries upstairs.

Tony put together Widow Allen's bookshelves when the directions disappeared.

Tony had caught Maggie when she ran into the street and saved her life when the truck didn't even slow down or notice her.

Tony was a good man.

Tony would protect her babies.

She nodded and put her arm down, pointing the knife at the ground.

"Okay. Okay. The kids like Tony. Tony is good. He'll protect them. He's good."

Jonathan swallowed and carefully put a hand on his wife's arm.

"Yes he will. He's a nice guy. Can I have that knife now? Please?"

Cassie looked at him strangely and then smiled shakily.

"Of course. Honey why do I have this? I'm so confused. I don't know...what's going on?"

Jonathan chocked out a relieved laugh as he took the weapon from her willing grasp.

"It's okay Love, everything's going to be alright. I'm going to help you. I'm going to call Doctor Henderson okay? He's going to help. Where's your medicine?"

She looked at him in confusion.

"I don't know... I didn't want it anymore...I... I think I...the bathroom?"

Jonathan gaped and ran to the bathroom, the knife still gripped in his hands.

The bottle of pills was tipped on its side on top of the toilet.

Empty.

She had flushed them.

_No. No no no!_

He spun back around and ran to his wife, reaching out for her, fighting back tears of frustration and fear.

"Cassie? Cassie when did you do that? When did you flush the pills?"

She shook her head.

"I don't know...you were gone."

He was gone.

Jonathan's thoughts scrambled.

Cassie had started acting strangely after lunch, he had sent the kids to Tony around seven o'clock, he had been home all day, it would have taken roughly forty eight hours for Cassie to start going into withdrawal symptoms for this medication like she was...

The last time he had been gone was yesterday morning.

She had missed two days of doses.

He panicked.

Xxx

_Luck be a Lady Tonight,_

_Luck be a Lady Tonight,_

_Luck if You've Ever Been a Lady to Begin With,_

_Luck be a Lady Tonight._

Tony groaned and opened his eyes, reaching for the phone crooning Frank Sinatra on his chest.

"Hello?"

_"Tony?"_

"Yeah?"

_"This is Jonathan._"

Tony sat up and rubbed his eyes, suddenly wide awake.

"Jonathan, hey. Is everything alright?"

_"No. No, nothing is alright. I hate to ask you this, but could you keep the kids a little bit longer?"_

"Of course, no problem. What's happening?"

Jonathan chocked on a sob and Tony could hear Cassie mumbling nonsense in the background.

_"Cassie...She...She has cancer. She's been on this... experimental drug for the past few months and it's...slowing things but not stopping them. The medicine has some side effects and she was confused and flushed the pills. I didn't know."_

Tony bit his lip in sympathy and closed his eyes.

_"She's missed six doses, two days worth. I didn't even notice. Gah, I didn't even notice. I'm taking her to the hospital now, I'll call you as soon as I figure out what's happening all right? Thank you so much Tony, I don't...we don't have any family around, there's no one else who would...The kids...Thank you."_

Tony nodded to himself and glanced at the clock. Four in the morning. He was due to work in a couple hours. This was going to be really hard to explain. But what else could he do?

"Anytime Jonathan. Don't worry about it. Just get you and Cassie there safely, I'll take care of the kids."

_"Thank you. There is a spare key under the mat in case you need to pick anything up for them, clothes, toys, food... anything. I can't tell you what this means, I...I don't how we'll repay you."_

Tony glanced down the hall where the kids were sleeping.

"You don't need to. I'll take care of everything here, go be with your wife."

_"Thank you."_

The heartfelt words echoed in his ear as two hung up and Tony closed his eyes, leaned back against the couch and threw his arm over his face.

This was bad.

He didn't know Cassie was sick.

Did Maggie and Greg...

Tony sighed and held down his speed dial, hoping Gibbs wouldn't be too angry.

But this was more important.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here we go Chapter three! I promise at the end of this one we're finally going to get somewhere! Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews! It makes me smile every time I read them, they're such a great encouragement! Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy this section and please let me know what you're thinking of the story so far!  
****~Renee**

_"Don't worry Tony, I'll put in the emergency request for you, no problem." _Abby yawned over the phone. _"I owe you one anyway."_

Tony smiled and rubbed his eyes. Abby was still trying to keep score.

"Abs, you don't owe me anything, we're still even from when you threw the last team poker game for me remember? Kate still can't figure out how I won."

Abby laughed and argued back.

_"Tony that was to pay off that amazing save from the disastrous blind date last month. The way you barged in there...you scared him to death! It was priceless!"_

"Anything for you Abby. Anyway though, that doesn't count, you ever need back-up for a bad date- you call me. No questions asked."

He could practically hear her smiling through the phone. How she could wake up this happy was beyond him. It was way too early for...well for anything. He needed caffeine and his soda stash was all dried up. There had to be some tea around here...

_"Fine but still, last week you found me the Boris Karloff __Frankenstein__ and the week before that you completely took apart my car engine for me and fixed the...the...the thing. Where did you learn to do that?"_

Nope. Tea gone too.

_D*mn. Coffee it is._

Tony rummaged through his cabinets and began the search for the bag he kept just in case Gibbs ever did decide to storm in. He answered absentmindedly as he dug further back into the shelves, until he was on his knees and his shoulders were inside the cabinets.

"Worked in an auto garage in college for a while. Football scholarship only covered so much."

_"Huh...I wouldn't have pictured you as a mechanic...anyway I still owe you big and you never let me repay! So now we're even. Right?"_

Tony chuckled as he finally found the missing coffee.

"Alright Abs, whatever you say. We're even."

"Great!"

Tony poked his ancient coffee maker and frowned, he hadn't used this thing in years, he wasn't even sure if it still worked.

_"You're going to have to call Gibbs though, he's not going to be happy when he finds out you're not there. Well...actually no one's going to be happy. Kate's still gone to that conference thing, and Tim can barely look the bossman in the eye without wetting himself."_

The coffee maker lit up and started making strange noises.

Dying noises.

His first car made a sound like that once.

About ten minutes later the car had burst into flames.

Tony took a step back.

"Yeah I know, I'll call him. I just wanted to make sure the request got in there before I tried to talk to him. Also wanted to talk to you in case he does kill me. Abigail Scuito, if I die, I bestow upon you my DVD collection and my favorite silk shirt."

_"The black one that I love so much!"_

"That's the one."

_"Oh Tony! Thank you! I love that shirt!"_

Tony laughed and switched the phone to the other ear, deciding it was worth the risk to try the coffee maker.

"Not dead yet Abs."

_"Oh I know, but it's nice to be thought of."_

"Yeah yeah. Alright, I better call the boss, wish me luck."

_"Luck!"_

Tony disconnected the call and eyed the percolator cautiously.

"All I want is caffeine. I promise, just spit me out something to wake me up and I'll put you back in the cabinet and never bother you again."

As if the machine heard him, coffee began the drip into the pot. He smiled victoriously and poured himself a mug. Taking a sip of the bitter liquid, he winced. He really didn't know how Gibbs drank this stuff, at this point there had to be coffee running the man's veins.

He sighed and held down the speed dial, hoping that being woken at four thirty in the morning wouldn't put the man in too foul a temper.

_Who am I kidding, this is going to end so badly._

_"Gibbs."_

"Boss? This is Tony."

_"Yeah, I saw that DiNozzo. Caller ID's a pretty handy thing. What's going on?"_

Tony winced. This wasn't off to a very good start.

"I um, I have to take a personal day boss, I'm not going to be in today."

He could hear Gibbs moving around now and a long pause where the man didn't say a word. Tony held his breath.

_"Is everything alright?"_

"Um...kind of. My neighbor's wife is heading to hospital and he had nowhere for the kids. They're six and four and have no place else to go. They hang out at my place all the time and have been over here since last night…um...Jonathan, my neighbor, said that things are really bad with Cassie, his wife, and he had to rush her in. An issue with her medicine. He didn't want the kids around for it. Abby's sending in a request for me. It's just for today and I wouldn't do this but they really need me and... Gibbs... I'm kind of-"

_"DiNozzo!"_

Tony sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah Boss."

_"These people trust you with their kids?"_

"Yeah."

_"The kids like you?"_

"Won't leave me alone."

_"They needed your help?"_

"They didn't have anywhere else to go."

_"Then calm down. McGee and I'll work cold cases for the day. Take care of the kids."_

Tony dropped his hand and blinked in surprise.

"I um...thanks Boss, I-"

"Tony!"

Maggie came running out of the room and jumped at Tony, flinging herself into his arms and knocking the phone to the ground.

"Maggie? Is everything alright? What are you doing up so early?"

Maggie giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck chatting about a dream her doll had.

Greg wandered over and picked up the cell phone that was now sitting at Tony's feet.

"Hello my name is Greg! What's your name...that's a funny name...you sound tough, like a cowboy! Are you a cowboy?"

"Greg give me the phone!"

Greg laughed and ran away holding on to the phone. Tony began to chase after him, but was hindered by Maggie still gripping his neck. He tried to catch Greg as he listened to the one sided conversation while the little boy chatted away with his gruff marine boss.

"Do you know Tony? He's my best friend, he plays cars with me and dolly's with Maggie and watches movies with us and gives us pizza and he took us for ice cream last night! I like visiting Tony!...You're his boss! Does that mean you get to tell him what to do? My sister tries to tell me what to do but I don't listen, does Tony listen?….Does he get spankings when he doesn't listen?...Maybe you should try that, my mommy says spankings are bad but daddy says they work I don't know though because I've never had one...Are you friends with Tony too?...Wow! Oops Tony fell down... Do you want to talk to him?...Okay! G'Bye Mr Cowboy!"

In the mean time, Tony had tripped over the DVD castle and in an effort to keep Maggie out of harms way, had twisted so he landed on his back, putting pressure on the tender bruises from yesterday. He winced and suppressed a moan while Maggie laughed at the fun. The little girl moved until she was sitting on his chest and looking down at his face.

"You look tired Tony."

"Just a... little. Ugh."

Greg wandered over and offered the phone.

"The cowboy wants to talk to you."

Tony groaned and took the phone while Greg joined Maggie in sitting on his chest.

"Boss? I don't suppose you can erase the part of the conversation where he told you I play dolls with a six year old?"

Gibbs' voice sounded strangely rough when he answered.

_"If I were you, I'd be more worried that I would take his advice on how to make you listen. Go be with the kids, I'll get a hold of you later."_

"Al-Oof!-right Boss." Greg bounced on him and announced he was hungry. "Talk to you later."

Gibbs disconnected and Tony let his head fall back and hit the floor.

_Well...that went better than expected. Kind of._

"Tony!"

He lifted his head back up.

"Yeah?"

"Can we have pancakes?"

He studied the kids and thought back the last time he tried to cook pancakes.

Well...when he was a kid he always wanted to meet a fireman.

Xxx

Gibbs snapped the phone shut and leaned back against the hand carved headboard of his bed.

_That was...different._

Tony had always seemed fond of children, and his relationship with Detective Alexander's daughter had been evident back in Baltimore, but he had never really pictured Tony as the type to call on to baby-sit.

But then again the kid on the phone, Greg he remembered, seemed to adore Tony. He had proudly announced that Tony not only would play cars and watch movies, but would also play dolls with his sister.

Tony.

Italian playboy.

Former college football player.

Federal agent.

Playing dolls with a little girl.

Gibbs shook his head fondly and smiled, quietly remembering days where he himself would put aside life to play dolls with a seven year old in pigtails.

He wouldn't hold it against Tony.

He understood.

And if this family, this Jonathan and Cassie, understood and trusted Tony with their kids, then they were already seeing deeper than a lot of other people who had known Tony a lot longer.

They had made a good choice.

Gibbs glanced at the clock and saw that it was not quite five o'clock. Tony was going to have his hands full. Two wide awake kids at the crack of dawn and it sounded like he didn't have a whole lot of sleep himself.

He frowned.

The night before he had dragged Tony back to his place and neither of them had gone to bed until after midnight, then they were up and off the work by seven. Then Tony solved a case nearly single handedly, then it sounded like he went home and had two children waiting for him.

He was tired and injured.

Even if it was just some bruises.

Ducky had not seemed happy with DiNozzo's effort to shrug them off so they must be more bothersome than he was letting on.

The kid was worn out and needed a break.

Gibbs made a note to himself to stop by there before heading into work, just to check things out, make sure everything was alright with him.

He knew he could handle it, but Tony had just sounded…

He didn't need a reason to stop, if he wanted to, he would.

And he had seen the bruises, Tony had to be in some pain after the knocks Howard had delivered.

Yeah, he'd stop by.

Just to make sure everything was fine.

Besides, he was really curious to meet the kid who thought he was a cowboy.

Xxx

Tony pulled his head out of the fridge.

No milk.

No eggs.

No syrup.

No butter.

No pancake mix.

Right.

He turned back to the kids who were patiently waiting.

Okay.

Well he could run down to their apartment, pick the kids up a change of clothes then go to a 24 hour diner then find a store somewhere because it didn't really matter what Jonathan said, he was not going to take the man's food. He could feed the kids just fine.

Besides he needed food for himself anyway.

"Okay guys, we're going to head down to your place and you can grab some clothes, then we'll go to Clive's Diner and find some breakfast okay?"

Maggie and Greg smiled at him.

"Okay!"

_Thank you God for twenty four hour diners, thank you._

"Alright, you two wait here in the living room and play for just a minute, I'm going to get changed. Be right back."

The kids nodded and skipped into the disaster area that used to be his living room where their cars and dolls waited and Tony hurried to his bedroom to find the easiest closest clothes.

Two minutes later he emerged in faded jeans, an Ohio State sweatshirt and a ratty pair of tennis shoes, his cell, keys and wallet tucked away safely in his pockets.

"Lets go!"

The two jumped to their feet and followed him out of the door, waiting patiently while he locked the door.

"Okay, after Clive's we'll head over to a grocery store, something has to be open in this town. What do you think we should get for the day?"

Maggie looked at her doll thoughtfully while Greg began jumping up and down while they moved up the steps.

"I know! Candy! And Chips! And jerky! I like jerky!"

Tony nodded.

"Candy chips and jerky? Well...there's some protein in there… I think. Maggie?"

"Go-gurt."

"Go-gurt?"

"It's yogurt in a tube Tony!"

He blinked and then shrugged.

"Candy, chips, yogurt in a tube...your parents are going to love me. Here we are."

He quickly found the key and opened the door, letting the kids run ahead of him into the spacious apartment.

The children dashed off to their rooms to find some clean clothes and more toys while Tony stood in the foyer and looked around with unabashed curiosity.

It was large but simple, things were well put together and practically screamed of family. Toys scattered all over the living room floor, hand drawn pictures on the fridge, family portrait on the living room wall.

It was nice.

Friendly.

Tony relaxed and let the wall take his weight, rubbing his eyes and hoping the coffee kicked in soon.

"Tony! I can't find my dinosaur shirt! Can you help me?"

"Coming."

He pushed himself off the wall and started toward Greg's voice.

He was halfway down the hall when he heard a strange scraping noise at the door.

He registered what it was and spun to meet the threat at the exact moment the door burst open.

He froze when three men stepped into the room and pushed the door shut behind them.

Two men gripped guns in large hands as they flanked a tall thin man, showing his dominance by stepping into the lead position.

A passing impression on the edge of Tony's consciousness noted that the alpha looked like a young Alan Alda.

A more important thought registered that none of the men were wearing masks.

And that the guns were now pointed directly at him.

And that Greg and Maggie were right down the hall.

_Oh sh*t._

The Alda look alike took a step towards Tony and smiled.

"Hello Mr. Eliot."

_What?_


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone,  
I'm really sorry about the wait on this chapter, I ended up leaving home for a couple days and didn't have a chance to update before I left. This isn't a very long chapter, leaving threw me off my stride a bit, but the next chapter should be posted within the next couple days and back up to par, some action and finally some answers, I'm still getting everything in place in this chapter. I hope you all enjoy! When I got back last night I checked my e-mail and I had almost 50 alerts regarding this story, it means so much to me that everyone is getting involved. Thank you everyone who reviewed and favorited and is following, it makes my day!  
Please tell me what you think! ****Thank so much for reading! **  
~Renee

_The Alda look alike took a step towards Tony and smiled._

_"Hello Mr. Eliot."_

**_What?_**

...

Tony's eyes skittered over to the picture hanging above the sofa.

Jonathan, Cassandra, Maggie and Greg, all dressed in white and laughing.

The Eliot's.

He gave them less than two minutes before they saw the picture and realized that Tony wasn't the man they were searching for. And then they would realize that whatever Jonathan had that they wanted wouldn't be found with him, but information might be taken from the kids. Because his children would know more than a random neighbor. And if the men were desperate enough to break into the apartment this early in morning, guaranteeing that yes the Eliot's would be home, but so would most of the building's occupants, and charging in armed but without being the least bit inconspicuous about it, then they might be desperate enough to take more terrible steps to get what they're after.

And that means that Maggie and Greg might...

That could not happen.

That _would_ not happen.

Not if Tony had anything to do about it.

_So I give them another target. A target who might hold more information that two small children. Right._

Tony straightened slightly and eyed the men carefully.

"Look man, I don't know what this is about, but my brother's not home, I'm just watching the place for him. Take whatever you want. We don't need to involve..."

He looked pointedly at the weapons, keeping his voice low while his thoughts jumped from plan to plan, trying to find the best way to disarm the situation without involving the kids.

Or a weapon going off.

Despite what everyone thought about him just throwing himself in front of danger, he did not enjoy getting himself shot or beat up or whatever other unfortunate things happened to fall upon him. And he _really_ didn't want it to happen today. Gibbs' would kill him.

If he wasn't dead already.

Tony hid the wince that popped up at that thought.

_Focus._

The almost Alda smiled curiously and tilted his head.

"Your brother? You are not Jonathan Eliot?"

Tony shook his head, staying relaxed, his eyes on the leader but not losing track of the weapons still pointed in his direction.

"No I'm not. I'm-"

"Tony!"

A high pitched shriek drew the attention of all the players as Maggie stepped into the hall, dressed for the day in embroidered jeans and a pink jumper. The guns came up at the new presence and Tony moved instinctively in front of the child causing the guns to face him again.

Maggie froze seeing the men in her home and her eyes widened as the tall thin man smiled at her. Maggie's bottom lip quivered as she called out for Tony, her voice shaking, seeking reassurance.

"T-Tony?"

Tony stared at the men, a challenge clear in his eyes. The unarmed man seemed amused and said nothing, simply nodded and allowed Tony to speak to the girl. He staying facing the men, and spoke quietly behind his shoulder.

"Everything's alright Mags. Why don't you go in with Greg and play a while? I have to...talk with some...friends. I'll be there in a little bit."

Maggie didn't move, staring at the guns that were pointed at him. Her breathing started to pick up and Tony could hear her on the verge of a panic attack.

Tony bit the inside of his cheek and held his breath, going against his every instinct, and turned to look at the little girl, offering his unprotected back to the strangers.

He slid his hand in his sweatshirt pocket to hide the clenched fist and looked into Maggie's eyes.

"Maggie. Everything is okay. I just have to talk to these men. Go in with Greg and shut the door. I'll come and get you in a little bit. Everything will be _fine._"

She nodded once and threw her arms around Tony in a hug, looking for comfort in all the confusion and fear.

She whispered into his ear.

"I'm scared."

He closed his eyes briefly, but kept his voice reassuring and calm. He whispered quietly enough for the men behind him to not hear a word.

"It's okay to be scared, but I'm going to take care of it. You and Greg are going to be fine. Shut the door and don't come out until I come and get you. No matter what, stay in there. Everything is going to be fine. I'm going to take care of this."

She nodded and whispered okay.

Tony squeezed her shoulders gently, turned her around, and with a gentle push- sent her to her brother's room. He watched until she went into through the door and shut it behind her with a quiet click and then he let out a long rush of air and turned back to the men.

Alda smiled at him.

"You have quite the way with children, _Tony_."

He shrugged.

"Depends on the kid, they all have their own opinion." He paused then stared at the men, his voice dropping dangerously. "Whatever this is, you _will_ leave them out of this."

The man regarded him.

"To each their own I suppose. And I'll do my best. I find it distasteful to involve children in business."

Tony grinned despite himself.

"Never work with children or animals?"

He chuckled.

"Exactly, Tony."

The muscle was beginning to look unhappy with the pace.

Tony eyed them thoughtfully, his eyes searching for other weapons with a practiced ease.

"You know my name, but I don't know yours. Care to share?"

The creepy smile widened.

"My name is Patrick."

Tony raised his eyebrows.

"You were born with no last name? How terrible for you. Would you like to sit and talk about how you feel about that? Or maybe why you're here?"

Patrick looked Tony up and down with a smirk, while Tony expertly hid a shiver of unease.

"I quite like you Tony, I think we can get on well."

Tony glanced behind him at the still shut door and smiled wryly.

"Fantastic."

Xxx

Gibbs rolled his eyes.

"Yes Abby."

_"I told him you wouldn't be mad at him, but he just sounded so weird. I think he was tired, he's looked really tired lately. Not like party all night and guess what I did last night tired, but about to fall asleep at his desk tired. A couple days ago when he left for lunch he came down to my lab instead and took a nap on my futon. He needs a break Gibbs, he's in here all the time. I have security logs up and Gibbs did you know he comes back in the middle of night when everyone's gone? He comes back and researches and ties up loose ends and all sorts of stuff! He works too hard and you let him! You have other agents you know."_

"Abby..."

_"Don't 'Abby' me Mister, you know I'm right. If you want something to be taken care of, you always go to Tony. McGee will never learn if you don't teach him, just because he's a computer guy doesn't mean he can't get things done in his own way." _

"I know that! He does a lot!"

_"Yes, but normally it's Tony that helps him with it! You tell Tony and then Tony deals with Tim! That's not fair! And what about Kate? You tell Tony to talk to Kate too. I know neither of them have been on your team that long, you and Tony have been doing the whole two man thing since you dragged him back from Baltimore, but you have a full team now and Tony can't do everything Gibbs! He's tired! He needs a break."_

"He's got today off doesn't he?"

He could feel Abby glower at him over the phone.

_"Today doesn't count and you know it! He's not going to get any rest with the kiddo's running around his place."_

"Abby, just tell me what you want."

She heaved a sigh.

_"I want you to tell Tony that you appreciate everything he does."_

Gibbs balked incredulously.

"He's doing his job! He doesn't need me to-"

_"Gibbs! He goes above and beyond the job every time he walks in the door and you know it! I'm not saying that you should give him a hug and skip off for ice-cream, just...let him know he does a good job. Please. It'll mean a lot coming from you."_

"Abby-"

_"Please Gibbs?"_

He leaned his head back on the head rest and sped the car up slightly.

"I'm almost to his place Abs, I'll see you later."

Abby's smile was clear over the line.

_"Tell him I said hi!"_

He snapped the phone shut and shook his head.

He was _not_ one for words, and Abby knew that.

Besides, Tony knew he did a good job, he didn't need his boss to pat him on the head and say 'good boy' to get things done.

That wasn't how they worked. He and Tony didn't need to talk to communicate. They understood each other just fine.

_Didn't they?_

He sighed and moved uneasily in the front seat of his car, his gut twitching nervously.

Now Abby had him all off balance.

He spotted a twenty four hour coffee house and pulled off, eager to find some caffeine and settle his agitated thoughts.

He opted to step into the building rather than pull through the drive through. Maybe he could pick Tony up a bagel or something.

_Not_ because of Abby.

Because he wanted to.

Just like checking on hi-stopping by. Not checking on him. Stopping by. There was a difference.

He didn't _have_ to have a reason.

He grumbled as he walked up to the menu and stared the wide selection of pastries and hot drinks.

This was going to take forever. Gibbs rolled his eyes at the sleepy looking barista and the line of people in front of him. Well he was here now, and he was not leaving without coffee. Tony didn't even know he was coming, being a few minutes later than he planned wouldn't hurt anything.

Xxx

"Shall we have a seat?"

Tony looked over at the living room critically.

Couch against the wall, two nice chairs facing the couch and a love seat against the adjoining wall.

Apparently his pause was taking too long. Patrick nodded to one of the large men flanking him.

"Come, let's talk."

One of the sides of beef grabbed his arm and pulled him to the love seat, pushing him down as Patrick took a seat next to him, much too close for his liking.

"Now, Tony. Let's get to know each other."

Tony stretched his legs out in front of him and did his best to appear relaxed while trying to keep on eye on the men and room Maggie had disappeared into.

"Let's. How about we start by you telling me what the hell is going on?"

Patrick turned his head to the side and murmured something in Spanish to one of the men. Tony straightened slightly and listened carefully while giving the impression he didn't know what was happening.

"Check the rooms for a safe, avoid the room with the children, he wouldn't be stupid enough to keep it there."

Tony relaxed slightly hearing that they weren't going to bother the kids, one less thing to worry about for the moment. But they didn't have to know that. Better to keep what little advantage he had.

"What's he doing?" His voice sounded panicked and he rose slightly, as if he was going to follow the disappearing figure, but the remaining man pushed him back down.

"Relax Mr. Eliot, he will not bother the children. This does not involve nor will we draw in the young ones. They will not get us what we need any sooner. You on the other hand..."

Tony narrowed his eyes even as he felt the wash of relief. Maggie and Greg were safe. For now.

"Tell me what is going on."

Patrick sighed and leaned back on the sofa.

"No need to be impolite Mr. Eliot. We're all civilized here."

Tony fought back a smile as he replied.

"If you're so civilized then maybe we can talk without the stiffs?"

Patrick chuckled.

"No, Lawrence and Steven are necessary I assure you. Now to answer your question, I'm afraid you're going to have to answer some for me. Tell me, what do you know about Jonathan's occupation?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Good Night. Morning. Whichever. Midnight is always a blurry time for me. Either way- Here is chapter 5.  
To answer several people who have asked in both reviews and pm's, I don't know how many chapters this will have. I just write until the story is finished. I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but right now I have no idea how long this is going to go, I just know it's not finished.  
Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed and favorited and followed! It encourages me everytime I see a new alert and makes me want to keep writing!  
****I hope you enjoy this chapter and please tell me what you think!  
****~Renee**

Tony raised his eyebrows.

Jonathan's job?

He knew nothing about his job.

He knew it paid well.

He knew the hours were flexible enough that Jonathan could be home a lot more than Tony was, but then again everyone was home a lot more than he was. So that wasn't a lot to go on.

He now knew it was something important enough to send three angry men breaking into a house early in the morning.

And all of that meant that it added up to the same-

He knew nothing about Jonathan's work.

_Nothing._

Tony twisted his mouth and kept his tone calm.

"We don't really talk about our work much."

Patrick's smile hardened and he nodded to the large man standing behind Tony.

"Wrong answer."

The man grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him backwards off the love seat. He then spun him around and cracked his head twice into the wall.

Tony gasped but didn't cry out as the man turned him back around, pressing his back against the wall and slamming a fist several times into his torso before knocking his feet out from under him and pinning him to the ground.

Tony bit back a groan as his bruised body protested the painful treatment and spots danced in front of his eyes. If that was the punishment for not knowing the answer, he would hate to see what happens when he gets a question wrong.

He was itching to fight back now, to show Patrick and his friend what he was made of, but there was a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and between the kids, the muscle and the two guns, one of which was still searching Jonathan's room-stupidity was oh so obvious. He couldn't risk it. If he made them too angry...

He would _not_ put Maggie or Greg in any more danger than they were already in.

Tony clenched his fists and controlled the anger, pain, and he would admit it, little bit of fear, that was rushing through him, and forced himself to concentrate.

Patrick stood from the love seat and stepped to Tony, placing his foot on the man's shoulder and applying unneeded pressure, ensuring that the already trapped man wasn't going anywhere.

"Come now Tony, I know brotherly loyalty and family bonds have their place, but right now you are in a very precarious position and it might be a good idea to think of yourself and answer my question."

At that he took the pressure of his shoulder and drew his foot back before letting it fly forward, hitting Tony in the jaw with a powerful crack.

Tony jerked but held back a cry, not wanting the children to hear.

Patrick smiled and sat on the floor next to Tony, criss-crossing his long legs beneath him.

"Protecting the young ones? How noble. Now I ask you again- tell me what you know about your brothers work."

Tony cleared his throat and moved his move carefully, unsure on whether his jaw had just been broken. He winced at the burn of pain but was able to speak around gasps for air. He thought carefullt for his answer, not wanting to say something that would reveal his lack of family with the Eliot's, but unable to stop the bite of anger.

"You're... _not_ a very good listener. We never... talk about work, we like to leave it...where it belongs. He never mentions it to me and I... never bring it up. Now what do you want? Just tell me what... this is about, no games!"

Patrick leaned in close, until his nose was inches from Tony's. An eery grin stretched across his face.

"But I do like games so."

Xxx

Maggie sat on the floor in front of the door, blocking Greg from leaving.

"But Maggie, I want to go see Tony!"

Maggie crossed her arms in front of her and drew her legs up to her chest, resting her chin on her knees.

"No. Tony has friends over, we can't bother him right now."

Greg titled his head to the side, confusion evident on his face.

"Friends?"

Maggie swallowed hard and nodded, trying to keep from shaking.

"Daddy's friends. The same ones who come and he sends us to our room when mommy is gone. They look angry, Tony said we're supposed to wait in here until he comes and gets us, so we're going to wait. I want to be with Tony too, but he said not to open the door so we're staying here."

Greg's eyes widened and he sat next to Maggie, scooting next to her until their sides were pressed together.

"Those friends scare me. I don't like it when they come."

Maggie reached down and took his hand, squeezing it gently.

"They scare me too. And I think they scare Tony, he didn't look happy like Daddy does when they come. He looked worried. It'll be okay though, Tony can fix it. Remember when Mrs. Stine's cat got stuck on the broken fire escape and she had us go and get Tony and Tony had to climb up on the roof and then down a pipe to save it? It'll be just like that. Tony will make it all better. He fixes everything. He'll make sure they leave."

Greg was quiet for minute.

"Mrs. Stine gave us all chocolate cake after we saved her cat. Do think after Daddies friends leave we can have chocolate cake?"

Maggie shrugged.

"Maybe. I like cake. And Tony took us for ice cream last night, I bet he'd find us cake."

Greg seemed satisfied with that.

"We can ask him when he comes and gets us. He'll be coming soon right?"

"Right."

The two sat in contemplative silence for a moment, thinking about stuck cats and warm cake and scary men.

Greg turned to Maggie to ask another question when a strange sound interrupted him.

_Luck be a Lady Tonight, _

_Luck be Lady Tonight,_

_Luck if You've Ever Been a Lady to Begin With,_

"What's that?"

"I don't know."

Greg pointed to her jacket.

"It's coming from your pocket."

Maggie stuck her hand in the pocket of her jumper and pulled out Tony's cell phone. She looked up at Greg with surprise.

"I don't know how I got this..."

Greg pointed at it excitedly.

"Answer it!"

"It's not mine."

Greg snatched it out of her hands and hit a button.

"Hey! Give that back!"

Greg made a face at her and spoke into the phone.

"Hello?"

Xxx

Gibbs grumbled as he left the coffee house.

This was not shaping up to be his morning.

Twenty minutes later and he had been given the wrong coffee, they had forgotten Tony's bagel, so he had to get back in line to get it, and then he been charged two dollars too much.

He was about ready to shoot something.

He opened the car door and tossed in the pastry bag and pulled his cell out of his pocket.

Tony was going to eat that bagel.

And he was going to be d*mned grateful for it too.

So grateful that he was going to think that Gibbs was the greatest boss ever and working at NCIS was worth every minute.

Because that was one hell of a bagel.

Yeah.

Gibbs nodded to himself and flipped open the phone, dialing the familiar number. He wanted to let the young man know he was a couple blocks away, if he would have been alone he would just show up, but he didn't want to startle the children.

Children with DiNozzo.

DiNozzo with children.

Wow.

Now that was strange to think about.

Gibbs shook his head and focused back on the phone ringing in his ear.

The phone trilled away several times and he frowned, Tony usually answered immediately.

_"Hello?"_

Gibbs raised an eyebrow and looked at the phone.

"Hello. Who is this?"

_"This is Greg. Who is this?"_

_Greg? Who is...Oh the kid who thought I was a…he must have snagged Tony's phone again._

Gibbs smiled and leaned on the car.

_Well this could be entertaining._

"Hi Greg. This is Gibbs, the cowboy."

The little boy giggled.

_"Hi cowboy! What are you doing?"_

"Gettin coffee. What are you doin?"

_"Hiding in my room with Maggie."_

Gibbs studied his coffee cup and wrinkled his brow.

"Hiding? Are you playing hide and seek?"

_"No. Tony said we needed to stay in here and shut the door and not come out. We're hiding from daddy's mean friends."_

Gibbs' head jerked up and his eyes narrowed.

"What?"

_"Daddies mean friends. We aren't supposed to tell anyone about them, but they're big and scary."_

"Greg, what-"

He could hear another voice in the background and Greg arguing with someone, and he could tell the four year old wasn't listening.

_"My sister wants to talk to you, hold on."_

There was a brief pause before a quiet voice came on the line.

_"Hello? Mr...cowboy?"_

Gibbs' thoughts scrambled. What was the girls name….Maggie!

"Maggie? Is everything alright? What's going on?"

_"There are some scary men here, they have guns like the ones on tv that mommy says aren't real except these look real and they look scary and they're black and they're big. The guys look angry and Tony looks worried and Tony never looks worried even when Greg stuck a twinkie in the VCR and it melted and started to smoke. He told me that Greg and I had to stay in Greg's room until he came and got us but he hasn't come yet and we don't want to be in here, we want to be with Tony. I found his phone in my pocket and I don't know how it got there and I don't know what to do."_

Gibbs dropped the coffee on the ground and jumped into the car, starting the engine before the door was even shut.

"Okay, Maggie listen to me. I need you to stay put, stay with Greg in his room. Do what Tony told you, listen to him. And stay on the phone with me, don't hang up. Don't worry Maggie, everything is going to be alright, I'm on my way. I'm going to come and help."

_"Okay."_

The response was whispered, but it was enough.

Gibbs gripped the steering wheel as he tore down the road, blaring on the horn.

_Oh Tony, what have you gotten yourself into now?_

Xxx

Tony jerked away from Patrick and snarled.

"What. Do. You. Want?"

Patrick chuckled and looked up as one of the men stepped back into the room.

"Steven?"

The angry Spanish came fast and furious but Tony had no trouble tracking it.

"It's not here, wherever he put it, it's not in the apartment. You want me to check with the kids? They might know something, I could find out."

Tony stiffened slightly but managed to keep a confused and worried expression on his face.

"What? What is he saying? What's going on?"

Patrick studied him carefully and then stood.

He turned to Steven and responded.

"No. Eliot would not be so stupid risk his children. If anyone knows anything, it is the brother. He said he trusted someone close to him with the secret, and who is closer to a man than his brother? Who would know him better? If anyone knows where the plans are, it this man. We will get the information from him, one way or another."

Tony felt a shudder of relief when he heard that Patrick was still unwilling to harm the children.

Well yes he was royally screwed, but better him than Greg or Maggie.

And now he had information to work with.

_Plans? That's something. But plans for what?_

Patrick turned back to Tony and nodded to man holding him down. Lawrence, he derived, seeing how Steven was yammering about in Spanish.

Lawrence grabbed Tony by the neck of his sweatshirt and hauled him to his feet, holding him steady.

Tony glared at him.

"This is my favorite sweatshirt. Don't tear it or I'm going to be ticked."

He smiled and spoke with heavily accented words.

"I'll try to be gentle."

Tony smirked at him and turned back to Patrick.

"So... Going to clue me in?"

Patrick reached a hand out and brushed the hair out of Tony's face. His eyes narrowed as he watched the man carefully, not trusting him to be that close.

"Sorry, but you're going to have to buy me dinner first, and even then, your odds aren't looking so great."

Patrick trilled a laugh and patted Tony roughly on the cheek.

"Oh you are a delight. I think this is going to be fun."

Tony swallowed a sigh and looked Patrick in the eye.

"Stop dancing around. What is this about? I don't know anything about Jonathan's job, I don't know what you want unless you tell me."

Patrick turned his head to side and looked at Tony carefully.

"Perhaps. Or maybe your loyalty to your brother extends to foolishness. I suppose there is only one way to find out."


	6. Chapter 6

**And I present you with...chapter 6. Plot twist included! And I have to admit I'm not completely sure what is in this chapter as the Olympics are on and there are some very good looking men swimming across my television. I'm more than a little distracted. Sorry about that. I just can't escape from it. Everywhere I turn, beautiful men are on the screen, soaking wet. This is becoming a problem.  
****Anyway...  
****Hope you enjoy. Pretty please review and tell me what you think! I love hearing everyone's thoughts, it makes my night so much better!  
****Even better than the gorgeous men swimming on the tv. So that's really saying something.  
****Sorry.  
****I should really turn off the tv.  
I can't.  
Go Michael!  
****Help me.  
****~Renee.**

Patrick gave a meaningful look to Lawrence, who pushed Tony back into the love seat. His head spun slightly at the movement but he forced his eyes to focus on the man sitting next to him.

"Alright Tony, you want your answers so badly, I'll give them to you. On one condition. You have to give me answers too. Understand?"

Tony swallowed and took a breath.

He knew nothing about Jonathan.

Nothing.

Everything he knew came from the babbling of a seven and four year old.

That wasn't going to impress these men.

Could he bluff his way through this?

_Well I guess we're about to find out._

"Alright. Age before beauty. You first. What's going on?"

Laughter gushed from Patrick and Tony leaned away from the sound.

"I'm afraid if we are not given what we came for your beauty will not last much longer Mr. Eliot."

Tony's patience was gone.

"Well I can't give you what you want if you don't _tell me._"

Patrick nodded and Tony could feel Steven and Lawrence moving behind him. A firm hand was placed on his shoulder.

"Watch your tone Mr. Eliot. I do not appreciate your attitude."

_Calm down Tony. Don't antagonize them._

Tony bit his tongue and held back a sigh.

"Didn't mean to offend."

Patrick reached out and patted him on the knee.

"Do not let it trouble you. Now, you wanted answers? Where shall I commence?"

Tony shifted his weight until Steven's hand was no longer holding down his shoulder.

"I find the beginning is usually a good start."

He laughed again and Tony felt his stomach twist at the sound.

"Of course."

Xxx

Greg sat on his bed and swung his legs back and forth while he listened to his sister.

"And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again. Is there one you like Mr. Cowboy? Greg picked that one, it's your turn."

The phone was quiet for a brief moment before Gibbs responded sounded slightly out of breath.

_"Hush Little Baby. Do you know that one?"_

Maggie nodded.

"My mommy sings that one. Are you ready?"

_"Yup. Go ahead."_

"Hush little baby don't say a word, mama's gonna buy you a mocking bird, and if that mocking bird don't sing, mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring. If that diamond ring turns brass, mama's going to buy you a looking glass… hmm... I don't remember the-"

There was shouting coming from the living room. Maggie lurched to her feet and spun around, facing the door.

"Mr. Cowboy? People are shouting! I can hear Tony yelling!"

Maggie heard Gibbs say a very bad word.

_"Maggie, stay away from the door, I want you and Greg to hide okay? In the closet, under the bed, anywhere you can find, but stay on the phone."_

"Okay."

Maggie reached out her hand and grabbed Greg's arm pulling him behind her to the closet. Greg looked around in confusion and then grabbed his favorite stuffed dog before being shoved in the dark by his sister. Maggie followed him in and then pulled the doors closed behind them.

"Maggie I don't want to be in here! It's dark! I don't like the dark!"

Maggie gave him a hug with her free arm.

"It's okay Greg. Remember Daddy did the no monsters dance in here. All the monsters went away, it's safe."

Greg looked at her for a long minute before nodding and settling himself on the floor to play with his dog, trying to pretend that he wasn't in the dark closet that was previously occupied by scary creatures.

Maggie sighed and looked around herself and tried not to think about giant one eyed monkey that lived in her closet.

Daddy's monster dance hadn't gotten rid of that.

Let's hope it worked better in Greg's room.

She took a deep breath and turned her scattering attention back to the phone.

"We're in the closet, now what do you want us to do?"

Xxx

_"We're in the closet, now what do you want us to do?"_

Gibbs cursed under his breath as he blared on the car horn.

He needed to contact his team but he couldn't end his call with Maggie, nor could he put her on hold. He didn't have a radio in his car and his only option would be to hang up on Maggie and call McGee. And that was not even to be considered. She was a little girl and he was not leaving her alone. But... Tony needed him too.

Gibbs growled as he maneuvered down the road.

"Okay Maggie, I want you to be really to be really quiet alright. Can you hear what they are yelling about?"

The phone was quiet.

_"I can hear Tony, he's saying…'Jonathan'… and 'No.' I don't know what else, other people are yelling too loud. I don't know."_

Gibbs tightened his grip on the phone.

"It's okay honey, you did a good job. Now I need you to tell me where you are. You aren't at Tony's apartment?"

_"No, Tony took us to ours so we could get some clothes."_

"Okay, can you tell me your apartment number?"

_"411 B. Mommy made me memorize it."_

"Did she? That's good. That's a good thing to know. I'm almost there Maggie. Just a couple more minutes."

_"Okay, hurry I-"_

Her voice cut off with a small shriek as a familiar echo came through the phone.

Gibbs pushed the car further as he yelled into the receiver.

"Maggie! Maggie answer me!"

_"There was a loud noise! I'm scared... I don't…. I want Tony...I want my mommy!"_

Maggie began to cry and Gibbs swerved around a truck.

"It's alright, Maggie. I promise everything will be alright. I'm almost there. I'm going to take you to your mommy, Tony'll be with you soon. Can you tell me what the noise sounded like?"

Maggie sniffed.

_"Like...like a...firecracker. I don't like firecrackers."_

Gibbs could hear Greg saying something in the background but he couldn't focus on the little boy's frantic words.

_Firecracker._

_Men with guns._

_A noise like a firecracker._

_A gunshot._

_Tony. _

_No._

He could see the building rising in front of him.

He swung in front of the entryway and ran to the door, punching in the code Tony had set up when he first moved in.

_1906._

Tony had smiled when he set up the numbers and answered Gibbs' questioning look.

_"It was the year the first full length feature film was ever released. __The Story of the Kelly Gang.__ It ran for just over a hour but it was the world's first."_

Gibbs' had rolled his eyes but had not forgotten.

The code blinked and the doors clicked allowing Gibbs access.

"I'm coming Maggie. I'm almost there."

_"Hurry. There's no more yelling. It's really quiet."_

Gibbs swallowed hard and ran through the doors and up the stairs, his heart pounding.

When he hit the fourth floor, he slid to stop and checked himself.

"Maggie, do you remember how many men were in the house?"

He could hear her counting quietly.

_"Three or four. I'm not sure. Tony was in front of them. I don't think he wanted me to see."_

Gibbs nodded. That sounded like DiNozzo, keeping the kids away from the danger as much as he could, even to the point of blocking their view.

Didn't make his job any easier.

But he didn't blame him.

It's what he would have done too.

"Okay Maggie, I'm right outside the apartment, but I need you to stay put until someone comes to get you. I have to hang up so I can help Tony, I'll be right there, got it?"

_"Okay."_

"Stay in the closet and stay quiet okay? Promise?"

_"Promise you're going to help Tony?"_

"I promise."

_"Then I promise too."_

Gibbs' lips twitched in spite of himself. He could see why Tony liked the kids so much.

"I'll see you soon."

_"Bye Mr. Cowboy."_

Gibbs ended the call and dialed another number.

_"Hello?"_

"McGee, we have a hostage situation at DiNozzo's apartment. Get me back-up and bus, now!"

_"Boss? What's-"_

"Not a good time for questions McGee. Just get help and get down here. Now!"

He snapped the phone shut and eased his way to the door.

He pressed his ear to the wood but didn't hear anything.

Silence.

Wait…

There was a slight murmur of voices, but it was too muffled. Then there was quiet cry.

_Tony._

Gibbs took a step back and quietly touched the doorknob.

It was open.

_No back-up._

_No idea what I'm walking into._

_But Tony's in there. _

_Kids are in there._

_Tony's hurt._

_There is no other option._

He braced himself and raised his gun.

_One. Two…_

He pushed the door open.

"NCIS! Freeze!"

For less than half a second Gibbs was able to take in the room before things went to chaos.

Tony lay on the floor, blood pouring from his side. Three men stood around him, two with guns aimed at him loosely and the third smiling down at him.

Two guns immediately came up, but before Gibbs could react, one was snatched away and was suddenly pointing at Tony's head.

"NCIS? Curious..."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes at the voice...there was something eerily familiar about it. And he didn't like it.

Suddenly the man pointing the gun at Tony laughed.

"Oh. Oh of course, it would be **you**. This could not be more perfect." He chuckled again, as if he simply could not stop himself. "I suggest you put that down, unless you want to be responsible for this young man's untimely death. And I know you wouldn't appreciate that..._Agent Gibbs_."

Gibbs' shoulders straightened slightly at the sound of his name coming from the strangers lips.

_How does this man know who I am?_

No answers jumped out at him as his eyes darted to Tony, hoping for clarity, but his friend looked about as confused as Gibbs felt. Gibbs debated silently for a moment, his gun trained on the man holding the weapon on Tony, with another gun pointed at his own head.

Tony, for his part, struggled to focus on the man standing in the doorway. How did Patrick know Gibbs' name? He didn't say anything. They still thought he was Jonathan's brother. And why the hell was Gibbs' here anyway?

Patrick smiled at Gibbs, a satisfied look on his face.

"You shoot me, you'll be dead before I hit the ground, and that would be leaving dear, injured, innocent Tony in the hands of two very angry men. Is that what you want? Because if I know you at all, that would defeat the purpose of you bursting in here in the first place am I correct?"

Tony shook his head.

_Don't do it Gibbs. Don't put down the gun. Shoot him. Shoot him now! You have no idea what's going on, shoot! _

Gibbs narrowed his eyes and then raised his own hands, his gun pointed at the ceiling.

Tony closed his eyes and raged at Gibbs internally.

_Why are you here alone? D*mn it Gibbs! Just this once you couldn't have followed the rules and waited for back-up?!_

Patrick nodded to Steven who stepped forward and relieved Gibbs of his gun.

Steven then moved away and Gibbs took a half step towards Tony.

Patrick shoved the gun into Tony's temple.

"Ah ah ah, stay there."

Gibbs moved back to where he was and gritted his teeth, watching the violent man next to his agent.

Patrick looked down at Tony.

"Now Tony, things just got a bit more complicated. The list of people you're responsible for just keeps getting bigger. Now we have an NCIS agent joining the party. How did this happen I wonder."

Tony said nothing, just stared Patrick in the eyes.

He clicked his tongue and sighed.

"There is that attitude again, we're going to have to do something about that."

He turned back to Gibbs.

"Agent Gibbs. It had been too long. Care to tell me what you are doing here? I must admit this time you surprised me."

Gibbs ignored him, his eyes focused on Tony and the growing pool of blood surrounding him.

Tony blinked several times trying to clear his vision and meet Gibbs eyes.

There was a brief moment of unspoken communication.

_I'm okay. Answer him. Be careful._

Gibbs swallowed.

"Was in the area. You're not very subtle. Gun shots tend to alert people something is wrong."

Gibbs at least hoped that was true. Someone had to have heard that, somene had to have called the local police before he got ahold of McGee. Someone had to be coming soon...

Patrick chuckled.

"And yet here you are all alone. Doesn't your protocol state that you need a partner or back-up before entering a hostage situation? Now what was so important about this one that you felt the need to break the rules and burst in?"

Gibbs' lips twisted.

"Make a deal with ya."

Patrick tilted his head.

"A deal? Interesting. Go on."

"Let me stop his bleeding and then you can ask all the questions you want. I'll even be honest."

Patrick raised an eyebrow.

Tony looked between the two men and then coughed, flinching at the pain that rippled through him. He turned his attention to Patrick and used some of his quickly fading energy to speak.

"Your plan's not going to work too well if I bleed out."

"Hmmm… very well. I don't suppose I need to warn you however that we will be watching. Very closely."

Gibbs moved towards Tony.

"I gathered."

He hit his knees next to his bleeding agent and lifted his shirt.

Tony looked at the concern and anger on his face and winced.

"It's just a graze."

"Shut up."

Gibbs turned back to Patrick.

"I need towels and something to wrap around him. Now."

Patrick leaned back slightly.

"Your attitude needs some work as well. Common courtesy can do a lot for you Agent Gibbs."

Gibbs growled out a please and Patrick look extraordinarily pleased with himself.

"Lawrence, some towels if you will."

Lawrence muttered something in Spanish and drifted to the restroom.

Patrick stood and stepped over to Steven and began speaking excitedly, gesturing to Gibbs and Tony.

Gibbs glanced at him and leaned close to Tony's ear.

"You getting any of that?"

Tony shook his head and whispered.

"Having difficulty focusing on one language at a time. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it, understandable."

Tony blinked a couple times and looked at Gibbs trying to remember what was so important. There was something that he had to tell him. Something…

_Eliot._

He paled and opened his mouth, whispering furiously.

"Gibbs...there's something I have to tell you, they think-"

Lawrence stepped up and handed him the towels cutting off Tony's words. Gibbs took the cloth and pressed it into Tony's side and felt a rush of anger at Tony's hiss of pain.

"What the hell did you get yourself into this time DiNozzo?"

The room went silent.

Patrick turned slowly, his face cool and calm but his eyes burning.

"I'm sorry, what did you call him?"


	7. Chapter 7

**So Ghostbusters II. I love it even though it's not as good as the first one, I mean come on, a river of slime? Really Dan Akroid? Really?  
Anyway. There is a point to this, I promise.  
In Ghostbusters II Venkman at point says, "Sometimes sh*t happens, someone's got to deal with it, and who you gonna call?"  
****Well in my family apparently you call me. Not sure I'm the best candidate, but I'll do my best. The point is, this will be the last upload for about a week. I should be back in around seven or eight days and will try to get the next chapter posted as soon as I can. Sorry for the inconvenience but family comes first.  
****Hope you enjoy, please tell me what you think!  
~Renee  
*Warning! Contains spoilers for The Haunting (The 1963 version, not the remake that should _never_ be mentioned.)*  
FYI-Best scary movie. Ever. Scared the crap out of me. And no I was not alive when it was first released. I wasn't even alive when Ghostbusters II was released. Beat me by two years.  
Sorry about the super long A/N!  
Read away!**

"But then, just when you think they're going to get out, Eleanor runs out in front of the car and is hit. And that's when you realize, Hill House actually drove her to commit suicide so she could stay with the house forever. It was amazing and incredibly spooky, really worked me over as a kid. The last lines, oh gosh I heard them in my nightmares for months. 'Hill House has stood for 90 years and might stand for 90 more. Within, walls continue upright, bricks meet, floors are firm, and doors are sensibly shut. Silence lies steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House. And we who walk here... walk alone. '. Ugh. Seriously Gibbs, messed up. I mean I was only six at the time, probably not the best choice for me to watch... but then again, it's not like anyone was really paying attention to what I was doing… it wasn't the worst movie I had seen. A great one was Vincent Price's-"

A groan from beside him alerted Tony to his friends' return to consciousness.

"Morning sleeping beauty. Another good one. 1959. You know they still have no idea who played the queen? They have no record of her voice..."

Gibbs cursed under his breath and struggled to sit up. Tony winced as he leaned down to help, offering an arm and a shoulder till the older man could get his balance.

Gibbs huffed and situated himself, mumbling towards Tony.

"It's official DiNozzo. You never shut up."

Tony grinned.

"Got to keep myself occupied somehow. Even talk in my sleep boss. Or so I've been told anyway, never bothered to find out myself. How's your head?"

Gibbs raised a hand and rubbed his temple.

"Been better. What happened?"

"After you answer me. Any double vision? Nausea? Memory issues?"

Gibbs growled.

"I'm not telling you what you missed until you answer me. If you have a concussion we need to know."

"And do what?"

Tony sighed.

"It's better to know and be unable to do anything than to be ignorant and do something to make it worse."

Gibbs rolled his eyes.

"No double vision, I feel fine. A little headache. Just a little confused on what happened after I pulled into your apartment. Happy now?"

Tony shrugged and hide the shudder of pain that accompanied the movement.

"Not particularly. Doesn't sound like you have a concussion though. That's always good. As for what happened. You came in the room and found a little bit more than you bargained for and then accidentally broke my cover. Which ticked off an already angry man. Patrick hit you in the temple with his gun and dragged us out of there. We were shoved in the back of a car and tore out of there, headed north. I'm not sure what happened next, I think I blacked out a little in the car…" Tony screwed his mouth to the side and drew his eyebrows together.

"Sorry about that boss. I woke up here with you about an hour ago. Or at least I think it was an hour ago...they took my watch. And my wallet. And yours. Phones, keys, badges, even found the knife in your belt. Didn't even have to look for it, they knew exactly where it was..."

Tony chewed on his lip and moved his hand to his side, hissing slightly as he applied pressure.

"Bright side though, when I woke up, I heard Steven tell Patrick that the cops showed up right after we got out of there, Maggie and Greg both got out fine. They're okay. We must have missed your back-up by only a few minutes." His breath caught in his throat as he shifted positions. "Hell of a time to be late."

Gibbs' eyes narrowed.

_Why is he…_

_Oh Sh*t._

Gibbs suddenly moved closer to Tony, startling the agent and causing him to jerk away and close his eyes against the sudden onset of nausea and sharp agony.

Gibbs' voice was harsh and brittle, but Tony could hear the concern and worry behind it.

"Let me see."

He shook his head.

"I'm fine boss."

"Not a request DiNozzo. Now."

Tony sighed and turned a little towards the man, showing him the side that he had been so carefully guarding.

Gibbs clenched his jaw at the red inflamed wound at Tony's side. He took a deep breath and began to slip out of his over-shirt.

"DiNozzo...did I hear you apologize for passing out?"

Tony winced as Gibbs ripped a strip of cloth from his shirt.

"Never apologize. Rule six. Right. And I didn't pass out. DiNozzo's don't pass out. I just...closed my eyes for longer than I meant too."

Gibbs snorted as he began to wrap the makeshift bandage around Tony's side.

"Right." He looked up from his ministrations and stared into what he could see of Tony's eyes. "You've been shot Tony. Don't apologize for...closing your eyes. Anyway, it's my own d*mn fault. Bursting in there like a rookie. Not even McGee would be that stupid."

Tony chuckled.

"You don't give him enough credit boss. Besides, he might be our best bet right now at getting out of this."

Gibbs shook his head and leaned in closer to Tony's side, trying to judge how much blood the younger man had lost between first getting shot and ending up wherever they were now.

Judging by the graying of Tony's face...Too much.

He swallowed and kept his tone light.

"Nah, two missing federal agents? They'll call the FBI."

Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Fornell?"

"Vacation."

Tony laid his head back on the wall.

"We're so screwed."

Xxx

Morrow glared at the shaking man standing in front of him.

"Let me get this straight. We are missing two of our best agents, _Gibbs and DiNozzo, _because they were kidnapped from DiNozzo's home?"

McGee fluttered his hands uselessly.

"I...it was his neighbor's home actually. Tony had to take a personal day for the kids… I don't really know the whole story… something with the mother..."

Morrow nodded.

"What do we know so far?"

Tim swallowed and took a breath, trying to get his nerves under control. Gibbs and Tony were counting on him, this wasn't time for him to be…

Well, him.

He straightened his shoulder.

"We don't know a lot yet, Abby is running information on the children's family, trying to figure out who would target the family and then take Gibbs and To-DiNozzo. We haven't come up with anything yet, but we're trying. The FBI liaison is due here soon and should...well, hopefully they'll be able to help."

McGee seriously doubted that, from the side comments Gibbs always made, the FBI seemed to do little but hinder their investigations. But he had hope. He had to. Because right now that's all they had.

Morrow nodded.

"Let me know as soon as you have something."

McGee nodded and prepared to leave, but was called back by Morrow before reaching the door.

"Agent McGee, what happened to the children? You said Tony was with children in their apartment when they were attacked. Where are they? Have they been able to help? Are they alright?"

McGee almost head slapped himself. He wasn't cut out for this. Gibbs was supposed to handle the details. Or Tony. That's what they were good at.

_Focus. They need you. This is no time to start doubting yourself. _

"The kids say that Tony was getting ready to take them for breakfast, they were spending the day with him because their mother is...sick. The details are still fuzzy on that. We're trying to reach the parents. Maggie, the eldest, told us that men broke into the home and Tony sent her into her brother's room to wait. Apparently he slipped her his cell too, because Gibbs ended up talking to her and finding out what was happening. She said she spoke to the… the cowboy, we're rolling with that being Gibbs, until he arrived at the apartment and he promised he would be right in but he never came to get them. She said there was a lot of shouting from Tony and then quiet until we showed up. It sounded like we missed them by a matter of minutes. They're with Abby now, both a little shaken up, but they'll be fine."

Morrow sighed.

"Alright, thank you. Let me know if you have any leads. I want them home and this wrapped up quickly."

McGee nodded and all but ran from the room.

_That makes two of us._

He shook his head and headed down to the lab, eager to see if Abby had found anything.

Morrow watched the door shut and turned back to the window.

Two weeks away from retirement.

Two weeks.

_Of course you would choose this time to get in trouble Gibbs. I hope you give my successor this much grief. And if you or DiNozzo are in anything less than perfect shape, I'll kill you myself._

...

"And then Tony climbed all the way into the vent until all we could see was his feet and he had to pull Geoffrey out by the ankles!"

Abby raised her eyebrows and took a long sip of her Caff-pow.

"How did Geoffrey get in the ventilation shaft to begin with?"

Maggie looked over at Greg who shrugged his shoulders.

"We don't know, but he was stuck in there for three hours before Tony figured it out. Mrs. Cray was so happy that Tony found him that she gave Tony a big kiss. On the lips!"

Greg made a face.

"It was gross."

Maggie giggled.

"Mr. Cray was really mad. He punched Tony in the face. Then Mrs. Cray yelled at him and Geoffrey couldn't come and play for the rest of the week."

Abby chuckled.

"Huh." She looked up as the lab doors opened and McGee came in followed by Ducky and Palmer.

"Hey Timmy, did you know that Tony climbed in a ventilation shaft to save an eight year old and was then punched in the face after being kissed by a grateful mom?"

Ducky laughed quietly while McGee rubbed his forehead.

"Of course he was. Abby do have anything for me?"

Abby beamed at him.

"You sound so...Gibbsy. I like it McGee."

She winked at him and Maggie elbowed Greg as Tim blushed.

Abby spun in her chair and turned back to her monitors.

"Alright. I have a few things to go over with the two of you, but first..."

She looked pointedly at the children.

"Hey Jimmy, would you mind taking the kiddos in the back? I think I have some coloring books still stored back there."

Jimmy glanced between the other three and nodded, gesturing for the children to follow him.

Maggie and Greg jumped to their feet and chased after Jimmy eagerly.

Once they passed through the other set of doors, Abby's lower lip began to quiver.

"All I have from the inside of the apartment is a shell casing and some blood. A lot of blood."

She looked at Ducky as her eyes began to fill.

"It's Tony's. He was shot. There's a...a lot of blood Ducky. And now he's missing and Gibbs is gone too and I don't have anything else but some fuzzy video and a partial plate."

She sniffed and wiped at her eyes. Ducky came forward and pat her arm while McGee put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright Abigail. Gibbs is with Anthony now, and you know he won't let anymore harm befall our dear friend."

Abby nodded.

"But what if he gets himself hurt doing something stupid?"

Tim shook his head.

"Tony won't let him do that either. They'll watch out for each other. They always do. They're a great team. You said so yourself."

She nodded and began to type, brushing away tears.

"I found a partial plate from the apartments security system. I got three men dragging Gibbs and Tony from the building and into a black SUV, there was mud on the plate and all I got is V and 63. As for the men themselves, I have two large hispanic men and tall thin pale guy with dark hair. No other distinguishing features can be made out. That's all I got for you."

Tim nodded and chewed on his lip.

Abby looked between the screen and Ducky for a few minutes before whispering.

"Ducky….can you look at the amount of blood on the floor and tell me… is Tony alright?"

Ducky sighed and furrowed his brow.

"I'm afraid I can't answer Abigail unless I know where he was shot. But as long as it wasn't in a fatal area and Jethro was able to stop the bleeding… I have every faith that Anthony will prove his resilience once again. Besides, think about what Jethro would do to him if Anthony was anything less than well."

McGee snorted.

"Gibbs would kill Tony all on his own."

Abby smiled slightly and began to try and clear her eyes.

"Thanks guys. Okay, I know you need to get Palmer back to autopsy, I just didn't want them to hear any of this. Or see me cry. I'm trying really hard to stay happy for them. They're helping a lot. They have some really good Tony stories. I wonder why he never tells us these. They told me a great one about their mom's broken refrigerator and Tony ending up covered in butter and spaghetti sauce..."

McGee rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Probably because he figured we'd never believe him. Thanks Abby, I need to head upstairs and see if we've gotten a hold of their parents yet and where our FBI people are. I'll be back down later."

She waved goodbye as he left the lab and Abby turned back to the computer.

"They're going to be alright. Tell me they're going to be alright."

She could hear Ducky sigh.

"They will be fine. On their own they do incredible things. Together? We have nothing to worry about."

Abby nodded and Ducky slipped out of the room. Once he reached the hall, he leaned against the wall and sighed.

"I hope."

Xxx

"So, I suppose you're curious about what happened?"

Gibbs adjusted the bandage and nodded to himself.

_It'll have to do for now._

"You look like the living dead DiNozzo, don't think you're really up to story time."

Tony chuckled.

"Good reference boss. Night of the Living Dead. 1968, great film, the remake was-"

Gibbs put a hand up.

"If you start talking about one more d*mn movie, I swear I'm going to end you myself."

Tony grimaced and looked up at the ceiling.

"Sorry boss. Trying to keep myself awake. Habit."

Gibbs sighed.

"Tell me about what I missed."

Tony changed positions again, trying find a spot that didn't aggravate his burning side.

Gibbs sighed and turned, putting his back against the wall and grabbed ahold of Tony, turned him gently so that his back leaned against his chest. He moved his legs until they were stretched out in front of him and Tony was half laying down, supported by Gibbs.

"Boss?"

"Shut up and talk."

Tony grinned.

"Yeah, I'll get right on that."

He settled himself against the mans firm chest and sighed, feeling the reassuring movement of Gibbs steady breathing.

He focused on the steadfast action and began to relay what had happened before Gibbs had showed up. When he got to the point to where Maggie had showed up, he cleared his throat and smiled slightly.

"When she gave me a hug, I pulled my phone out of my sweatshirt and dropped it in her jacket pocket. I knew you would call eventually, you can never leave me be on my days off. Hoped the kids would answer and you would figure something was up."

Gibbs nodded.

"I was on my way over, planning on stopping by. Maggie said that her father's angry friends were there and you didn't look happy."

Tony made a noise that was part snort part groan.

"Yeah, not happy about covers it. He had one of the men, Steven I think, search the room for something. They left the kids alone though. Patrick insisted that he didn't want to involve children in his 'business'. Wouldn't tell me what he was after either. Acted as if I was supposed to know."

Gibbs nodded.

"How long did it take you to convince him you were Jonathan's brother?"

Tony looked up at the ceiling.

"No time at all. He accepted it immediately. Makes sense if you think about it. Why would a random neighbor be in the house with the kids? An uncle- now that works."

Gibbs grinned.

"And would keep them away from the kids."

"Yeah."

He shook his head.

"So then?"

"Then he told me what he was after. I didn't take it very well."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"I um...sort of decked Patrick in the eye and took Steven to the ground. Then Lawrence pulled a gun and you can guess what happened next."

"You attacked three armed men?"

"Only two of them were armed."

"DiNozzo..."

Tony sighed.

"I moved on instinct boss. If what they were looking for was in the apartment… I couldn't let them find it. Had to try."

Gibbs looked at the back of Tony's head, his gut churning.

"Tony?"

He turned his head and looked up at Gibbs.

"We have a problem Gibbs."


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm home! Sorry this chapter is short, my week was...not nice and I am really tired so this is short and probably not edited the best. Sorry about that. Right now all I want is my pillow, some painkillers and some hot tea so this is all I can handle right now. I hope you all enjoy the chapter! Please tell me what you think!  
****Renee**

McGee paced back and forth in the bullpen.

He had been told that the FBI liaison team was on their way and they weren't here yet.

The FBI was late.

His boss and his…

_Did Tony count as a friend?_

_He teases me._

_Glued my fingers to my keyboard._

_Drives me crazy._

_Set me up with the nice lady in the Human Resources department._

_Protects me from Gibbs' wrath._

_…_

_Yeah, he's my friend. _

His boss and his friend is missing, one of them injured, and the FBI is late.

McGee gritted his teeth and bounced on his feet.

This was ridiculous.

He sighed and spun again, walking back away from the windows.

_Come on come on come on._

The dinging of the elevator caused him turn quickly and dash towards the noise. He screeched to a halt when he saw the person leaving the metal box.

"Kate?"

The dark haired woman looked at him with frustration and worry as she hurried over to him.

"McGee! What the hell is going on? I got a phone call from Abby telling me that Gibbs and DiNozzo were missing and someone's been shot! What's happened?"

McGee nodded and grabbed her arm, pulling her back to the elevator.

She wasn't the FBI, but she would do for the moment.

At least she had seniority now.

"Come on, I'll explain on the way to Abby's. We finally managed to contact the parents, the dad's on his way."

Kate looked at him in horror.

"You called Tony's parents? Are you insane?"

McGee stopped so fact he almost fell over and looked at her in bewilderment.

"Why would we call Tony's parents? Do you think we should since he's missing? Maybe we should, I would want my parents to know..."

Kate whipped her hand around and slapped the side of his head, rushing to the elevator.

"Don't even think about it!"

McGee followed her, still confused.

"Why shouldn't we..."

Kate shook her head and cut him off.

"I tried it once, when I first came here, it didn't exactly turn out well..."

_"Gibbs!"_

_The dark haired man tackled the older agent in a burst of speed, hitting the ground hard and rolling as the small house exploded in ball of flame and flying shards of metal._

_ Gibbs lay on the ground, winded, being held down by the fit young man. His eyes scanned the property for any new threats before turning towards the man still sprawled on top of him._

_"You going to get off me anytime soon DiNozzo?"_

_Tony was silent._

Tim looked at her in a mild panic.

Obviously Tony was fine.

Come on, he had seen him just yesterday, this had happened ages ago.

Somehow that wasn't comforting.

He waited impatiently for Kate to continue.

_Kate came running towards them._

_"Gibbs? DiNozzo? Gibbs?!"_

_"Todd!"_

_Gibbs waved his hands at the new agent as he carefully rolled Tony off of him, searching for an injury._

_Kate arrived next to the men just as Gibbs found one._

_"Oh my-"_

_"Call an ambulance."_

_Kate nodded, not moving._

_"Todd! NOW!"_

_She jerked into movement and pulled out her cell, sputtering about an officer down and rattling off their location._

_Gibbs put his hand against the bleeding head wound, careful not to worsen the gash where a shard of metal had sliced into the side of forehead. He winced as he saw the large lump and bruise forming.  
"DiNozzo? Time to get off your butt and move it! Come on! I swear if you don't wake up DiNozzo I'll have you on desk duty till doomsday!"_

Kate rubbed her arm as the elevator moved.

"He didn't wake up. Not when the ambulance came. Not when they drove him to the hospital. Not when they first admitted him. Not for hours. Gibbs sat next to him the whole day, he didn't say anything, but you could _feel_ the guilt coming off of him in waves. Tony had gotten hurt saving _him. _Gibbs didn't know how to handle that."

She shook her head and sighed.

Tim looked at him and wrinkled his eyebrows.

"What happened? And what does this have to do with his parents?"

Kate rolled her eyes.

"I'm getting to that."

_"Gibbs?"_

_The man didn't turn. Didn't look away from his vigil over the hurt agent. _

_"Gibbs."_

_"What?"_

_"Do...do you want me to call his next of kin? I think his family should-"_

_"No need."_

_Kate took a half step back._

_"Excuse me?"_

_"His next of kin has already been informed."_

_"But...but there is no family here."_

_"Didn't say anything about blood relatives now did I Todd? Leave it alone."_

_Kate opened her mouth, but couldn't find anything to say._

_She turned on her heel, walked out of the room and headed back to headquarters. Her thoughts spinning with one purpose._

_She would want her family to know._

_Tony would have to be the same._

_Gibbs just didn't understand._

The elevator dinged and the two exited.

"So you called?"

Kate winced.

"Yup."

"...And?"

Kate shuddered.

"All hell broke loose."

_"No, I'm just trying to reach Mr. DiNozzo. It's about his son. His son. Anthony DiNozzo Jr. Junior. Yes. His Son!"_

_She banged her head on the desk as she was put on hold once again._

_It had taken half a day to find a number, it wasn't in his file anywhere, she had to make Abby look it up. The human resources lady had told her that there was no DiNozzo listed anywhere on any of his information. Her patience was at it's end._

_"Anthony DiNozzo's office."_

_Her head popped up._

_Finally._

_"Yes, my name is Kaitlin Todd from NCIS, I'm calling Mr. DiNozzo regarding his son Anthony DiNozzo Jr."_

_"I'm sorry I wasn't aware Mr. DiNozzo had a son."_

_"Yes he has a son and I really need to speak to Mr. DiNozzo."_

_ "Well he's in a meeting right now and can not be disturbed unless it is of the utmost importance."_

_Kate stared a the phone in shock._

_It was his son. What could be more important?_

_"His son is in the hospital."_

_"Oh, that's too bad. May I ask the hospital?"_

_"Bethesda."_

_The name slipped from her lips without thought._

_"Thank you, we'll be sure to send some flowers."_

_The phone disconnected._

"Flowers?"

She nodded as they slipped down the hall.

"Did...did his dad ever come?"

She sucked in her cheeks.

"Didn't come. Didn't call. Didn't even sign the d*mn card. Flowers showed up with a card saying 'Get well soon, DiNozzo industries.' Tony looked at like the name like he had seen a ghost. He was so confused. He woke up, smiled at Gibbs, and saw the flowers. Gibbs didn't know where they were from, so Tony read the card, and asked Gibbs if it was some kind of joke."

Kate sighed.

"I thought Gibbs was going to set the flowers on fire with his glare alone."

"Tony was kind of quiet after that. Not that anyone who didn't know Tony could tell. He still joked and smiled and never shut up, but he was a bit...off. Like he was trying a little bit too hard. Gibbs was...furious. I was taken aside and told in no uncertain terms that if I ever did something like that again I would be out of a job. I was doing nothing except paper work and grunt work until Tony was back to normal. Longest two weeks of my life."

McGee gaped at her.

"Two weeks?"

She shrugged.

"I suppose there's a reason he doesn't mention family."

Tim looked away and towards Abby's lab, his thoughts churning.

"You know...I still don't know who is next of kin is. The Human Resource lady didn't tell me. She just said that there were no Dinozzo's on the information."

McGee didn't respond.

Kate let the silence last until they saw the shining doors of Abby's sanctuary.

"So… Gibbs and Tony...and who's parents?"

Xxx

Tony turned his head and looked up at Gibbs.

"We have a problem Gibbs."

He nodded and stared Tony in the eyes.

"How big of a problem?"

Tony chuckled, hard and worried.

"Oh sh*t a giant marshmallow man is tearing up New York big."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes and Tony gave a quiet sigh.

"Sorry Boss. Old habits and all that. Patrick said Jonathan had something for him. Plans."

Gibbs nodded, waiting.

Tony took a deep breath and turned his head forward, his thoughts sorting as he held the air.

"Boss, Patrick said Jonathan is a weapons developer. He was selling him plans for...something. Something big. Patrick didn't tell me the name of the weapon. But Gibbs… Jonathan is dealing in weapons manufacturing. He's selling information. He's..."

His voice strangled off as his fists clenched.

His neighbor. His neighbor for almost three years and he had never seen it. Never even suspected. Who knows who could have obtained what knowledge. Who could have been killed, hurt, lost. Who he could have saved if he would have...

What had he missed?

Gibbs blinked at the back of Tony's head as the younger man sighed and tried to keep Gibbs from taking anymore of his weight as his guilt pulled him down.

"Stop."

"What?" Gibbs could hear the confusion in Tony's voice.

"Stop that now. This is not your fault."

"Gibbs I should have-"

"What? What should you have done Tony? Should you have done a background check on each and every one of your neighbors? Interview and interrogate them? What could you have done?"

Gibbs reached for the younger man's chin and turned his head so he looked him straight in the eye.

"This is not your fault."

He stared his agent down until Tony nodded. Finally he released him and Tony rubbed his side thoughtfully.

"So what do we do now Gibbs? He knows I'm not related to Eliot anymore, so I'm not going to have any information. The kids are safe, McGee has to have the kids back at NCIS by now so he's not getting them, Jonathan took Cassie to the hospital so as long as Patrick doesn't know where they are, if Eliot heads back to the house, we'll have him and take him and Cassie to safety and get some more information on Patrick." Tony paused, remembering something else that the earlier meeting had revealed. "Speaking of more information...Gibbs?"

"Yeah?"

"Patrick recognized you. Do you have any idea who he is?"

Gibbs closed his eyes and leaned his head back, thinking. Tony could sense his thoughtfulness and lapsed into silence, allowing the man to think, trying to place Patrick.

After a few minutes Gibbs shook his head.

"I don't know."

Tony was glad at that moment Gibbs couldn't see him because his jaw about hit the floor.

_He didn't know._

He nodded and swallowed.

"Okay. You don't know. So where does that leave us?"

Gibbs took a deep breath.

"It leaves us in a whole lot of trouble. If he knows me and I don't know him..."

Tony dipped his head, following his deduction.

"Then there is a reason, and it's not a good one."

Tony felt a whisper of fear go down the back of his spine.

If this turned into something messy, if Patrick was on some sort of revenge kick...

He was not going to let Gibbs get hurt.

This was his fault, he had gotten him involved.

Gibbs was not going to pay the price for him.

The man was the closest thing he had to family.

And he was not going to lose him.

_I'm not_.

Tony drew in a deep breath, but gasped as it pulled at his side. He winced as he felt Gibbs shift behind him and pull at his shirt.

Gibbs looked at the wound and pursed his lips.

Blood was soaking through the wrap.

He looked at the side of Tony's face.

His eyes were closed tightly and his lips were pressed together and Gibbs could see he was holding back some choice words. His hair was sweaty and sticking to the side of face, which was somehow even paler than before.

That couldn't be good.

Without opening his eyes or turning his head Tony opened his mouth and murmured.

"It's rude to stare."

"Can't help it, you're kind of funny looking."

Tony's lips quirked into a smile.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night Boss, we all know you can't keep your eyes off me."

Gibbs grinned and swatted the back of Tony's head gently.

"Smart *ss."


	9. Chapter 9

**Two things.  
Number one. It's four months and twelve days till Christmas. Time to start singing Jingle Bells! Yup, I'm one of those people. You can throw a tomato, it's alright, my singing kind of deserves it anyway.  
Number two, I'm moving this week so things are pretty chaotic and I may not get to update as much as I'd like. I'll do my best to be consistent but if a couple days go by, I'm really sorry, I hope everyone understands.  
****Thank you so much for all the amazing reviews, they mean the world to me and I really appreciate the time you all put in to write them. Thank you!  
****I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Please tell what is happening in those lovely minds of yours!  
****~Renee**

"Okay, so here we have Maggie's descriptions of our baddies, but we have to remember she is only seven, so details are kind of hazy."

Abby handed the pictures over to Kate and then turned back to her computers, restless energy pouring through her, there had to be something else she could do. Anything. Her boys were counting on her.

Kate nodded and looked at the pictures closely.

Two of the men were were nearly identical from her description, but the third had a narrow nose and deep set eyes with nicely combed dark hair swooping over his forehead, setting him apart. All in all he looked like a nice man, but there was soothing quietly sinister about the sketch.

Kate ignored the feeling of unease and lifted the pictures to compare it to the fuzzy image Abby had captured and blown up from the video.

"Well...it works. I mean they are similar enough."

Abby nodded.

"Yeah but-"

McGee stuck his head in the room.

"The FBI's here."

Kate huffed.

"Finally!"

The two agents hurried to the elevator and waited impatiently for the box to reach the bull pen.

When the doors parted they walked in, looking calm and put together, not all like the ball of nerves they had become since their teammates had disappeared.

Three men stood in the center of the pen and the obvious lead stepped towards Kate.

"I'm special Agent Don Eppes, and these are agents David Sinclair and Colby Granger, we're here to help with your missing teammates."

Kate nodded and waved to herself and McGee.

"Special agents Kate Todd and Timothy McGee."

The African American man, Sinclair, gave her a slight smile.

"Pleasure to meet you both, we do wish it was under different circumstances."

The other man gave an apologetic smile and glanced over at his partner.

"Sorry we're late, we had a slight...communication problem on the way over."

Kate raised an eyebrow curiously.

Don shot a look at his agent.

"Apparently the director contacted Agent Fornell and he felt the need to call all the way from Tokyo to give us some instructions regarding your team procedures. He says you work about as outside of the box as we do."

Kate smiled and felt herself warm to agents. Don could feel her relax and he gestured to the folders trapped in her arms.

"What do we have?"

Kate blinked and focused, pulling a file from under her arm to debrief the agents when her phone rang.

"Just a sec- Todd….yeah Abby. We're on our way. Two minutes."

She flipped the phone shut and turned back towards the elevator waving the agents to follow her. McGee sighed as he chased after her the FBI close behind him.

"I swear, we spend so much time in this stupid thing we might as well just move our desks in here and call it the Gibbs cave." He grumbled.

Kate smiled slightly and looked over at the probie.

"You sound like Tony."

Tim's eyes widened.

"I...Oh my gosh. I do. Please don't tell. He'll start on some mini me reference or something. I'll never hear the end of it, Please don't tell him."

Kate smiled mischievously as the lift began to move with the five of them crammed inside.

"I don't know Tim, it would make him so happy..."

"Kate…."

His tone was pleading and Kate couldn't stop the laughter, even as it bordered on the edge of hysterics. She didn't know how to handle things when Gibbs wasn't around, and when Tony was gone things just got worse. They had to find them. _Now._

"When we find him, you don't tell him I was worried and I won't tell him you're picking up his habits."

McGee nodded.

"Deal. Besides, if Gibbs thinks he's going to have more than one Tony around here, we're all going to be looking for a job, he'll have a two man team again and the director will have kittens."

Kate shook her head and the two stepped out of the elevator followed by the bemused FBI agents.

Eppes, Granger and Sinclair all exchanged a glances, wondering just who these men were that they had been called in to help find.

The five people entered the lab and were attacked by the gothic woman clutching a stuffed hippo.

"Kate! I found something! Not something fantastic, or something even really great, but its still something and every something counts right?"

"Abs what do you have?"

"I-who are they?"

Kate glanced back at the men who were studying the lab with appreciation.

"Agents Eppes, Granger and Sinclair. FBI...help."

Abby nodded slowly.

"Right."

Sinclair stepped forward and offered his hand.

"It's nice to meet you Miss?"

"Scuito. Abby Scuito. You're going to help us get Gibbs and Tony back?"

Don gave her a reassuring smile.

"We're going to do our best."

She nodded.

"Well your best better keep up. I want them home."

Colby and David looked at each other in surprise. They had been told NCIS was full of attitude, and if this was only half the team, they couldn't wait to find the rest.

"Okay, as for what I found. Something Maggie had said sparked a thought. She mentioned that they weren't supposed to talk about the men who broke in and I thought that she meant that Tony was trying to keep them quiet and safe. But I was wrong. Those men have been to the apartment before. And by before, I mean every month for almost six months. I went back in the video and found the same SUV in the parking at least once a month. Who ever these guys are, The Eliot's know them somehow. This wasn't a random target or a chance break-in. This was something bigger."

The agents looked at each other, their gazes weighted with the implications that Tony could have stumbled on to something bigger than a robbery gone wrong or even an attempted murder.

Tim bit his lip.

_It's Tony. Of course he could walk in on a conspiracy. _

"Abby did you manage to get a better shot of the plate?"

She shook her head woefully.

"Sorry guys, no such luck."

There was a quiet sigh from McGee and Todd as they took in the news.

The FBI agents gave them a moment to collect themselves before they turned to the newcomers.

"Alright, let's catch you up."

Xxx

Gibbs let out a breath of relief went he finally felt Tony go limp against his chest. The younger man had passed out after nearly an hour of going over every detail, every moment, trying to figure out what Patrick had, how dangerous the weapon could be and what the could target was once he had it. Gibbs knew he wasn't going to be able to stay awake much longer, eventually the blood loss, stress and exhaustion would win out, it was just a matter of when. He had steadily grown paler and clenched his fists in an effort to keep them from shaking, trying to keep his voice steady as he gave the information to his boss, but Gibbs could see his strength was failing. When the agent had closed his eyes and trailed off, Gibbs had done nothing to stop him, allowing his friend to finally fall asleep and dull the pain that had to be overwhelming him by now.

Gently he moved himself out from behind Tony and lowered his senior agent to the ground. In the dim lighting he studied his face and grimaced as he began to carefully pull up his sweatshirt, not wanting to take away it's warmth but needing a better look at the damage, he bunched it up near the man's armpits.

"Oh sh*t Tony. They really worked you over."

He shook his head as he carefully studied the bruise covering his jaw. He then turned his attention to his torso. Dark bruises covered his stomach and chest, but they were overshadowed by the blood that was drying and sticking to his skin.

He sighed worriedly, letting his concern be heard now that Tony was asleep, while he carefully pulled the soaked wrapping away and tore another strip off his shirt.

Tony mumbled something in his sleep and moved restlessly as Gibbs began to wind it around the wound.

Gibbs reached out with one hand, the other still putting pressure on the wound, but before he could touch the other man's shoulder to calm him like he intended, the door swung open, and two large angry men stepped in followed by Patrick.

"Agent Gibbs."

Gibbs stared at him passively, keeping the pressure on Tony's side steady.

"Patrick isn't it?"

He smiled.

"Yes."

Patrick glanced at the two men and gave a brief nod.

Steven and Lawrence stepped forward and Gibbs braced himself, preparing for the man to take revenge against him for whatever it is he had done.

He was half right.

With his hands still full of Tony's bleeding side, his face took the full force of the punch that knocked him back and away from his agent.

Lawrence reached down and grabbed a hold of Tony's sweatshirt, hauling the man to his feet.

Gibbs blinked and forced his vision to focus, and when he saw Tony, still unconscious and held in the man's meaty grip, he lurched to his feet and started towards them.

Patrick held up a finger.

"Ah ah ah. Stay put."

Lawrence stepped back until he was across the room from Gibbs then he slammed Tony into the wall, bringing to man to back to consciousness with a cry.

Tony groaned as his eyes opened, blinking against the light.

Gibbs could see the brief moment of confusion flitter across his features as he tried to figure out how he had gone from all but using his boss as a pillow to being pinned against the wall by the violent angry man, before he sorted his thoughts and schooled his expression to neutrality.

"Patty, long time no see."

Patrick turned and smiled at Tony for a brief moment before lashing out and slapping him across the face.

Tony's head jerked back and cracked against the wall.

Gibbs growled in the back of his throat and he took another half step forward without thinking.

"Now, now Agent Gibbs. I told you to stay still."

Lawrence tightened his grip on Tony and drew back his fists, smiling wickedly at the older agent, his intent clear. Gibbs stopped moving but didn't take his eyes off the man he regarded as a son, his hands clenched.

Patrick nodded and Lawrence lowered his arm, disappointment clear on his face.

"Alright, now that we're all together again. Let's have talk, shall we?"

Gibbs kept a close eye on Tony but didn't say anything.

Patrick frowned and raised a hand.

Lawrence smiled widely and hit Tony in the stomach, dangerously close to his injured side.

Tony stifled the cry, but Gibbs could see the flash of pain he tried to hide. Gibbs held back his own yell of anger and worry and spat towards Patrick, his words short and harsh.

"Alright. What is it you're after Patrick?"

He smiled.

"At the moment, polite conversation. We can do that, can't we agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs narrowed his eyes, but didn't look away from Tony.

"Gladly. We can talk all you like, if you let Tony go. He needs help."

Patrick chuckled.

"Oh Agent Gibbs, You have no idea how right you are, but I am afraid I cannot let him go."

Gibbs ground his teeth.

"And why not?"

This time the laughter pealed out of Patrick, and Gibbs wanted to cover his ears from the sound. He could see from the look on Tony's face that his friend shared the sentiment.

"Because, it's always good to have an ace in the hole."

With that he nodded and Lawrence began to drag Tony out of the room.

Instinctively Tony tried to pull away and Gibbs moved towards him, not willing to let him out of his sight.

Lawrence yanked him backwards and curled his fingers around his neck, pulling him backwards.

"Boss..."

Tony's call was strangled but Gibbs reacted to it immediately, coming to the aid of his distressed agent.

Steven snatched Gibbs' arms and tried to pull him back, but Gibbs turned and twisted out of grasp, swinging hard and fast and catching the man in the nose. Steven cursed and let go and Gibbs whirled back around quickly but was devastated to see that Lawrence had taken advantage of the distraction to remove Tony from the room.

His agent was gone.

Gibbs turned his attention to Patrick and charged at the man but was brought up short when a gun was suddenly pointed at his face.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Right now the only reason our dear Tony is still with us is you. It would be such a shame to kill you now. I guarantee you Mr. Eliot's or shall I say, _Mr. DiNozzo's_ death would not be near as pleasant as a simple bullet to the head."

Gibbs straightened his shoulders and stared the man down, not letting any emotion show in his gaze.

"Where is my agent?"

"He'll be back. Patience Agent Gibbs, is a virtue."

Gibbs bit back a retort and spoke with a quiet menace.

"What do you want?"

Patrick held the gun steady and regarded him with amusement.

"What any man wants Agent Gibbs, the world. But I'm assuming that for the moment, you're more curious about what I want from you?"

Gibbs didn't answer, just glared.

Patrick titled his head to the side and watched Gibbs, his eyes bright with glee and something that sent a shot of worry through the agent.

Something off.

Something dangerous.

"Tell me Agent Gibbs, would you like to hear a story?"

Xxx

Jonathan all but ran through the hallway, his heart pounding in his chest as he followed the officer.

First his wife was admitted into the hospital and Doctor Brennan had told him it was only a matter of time, something he had known for weeks but refused to admit to himself.

Now he gets a phone call saying someone broke into his house and his children were at NCIS headquarters?

Where was Tony? Had he brought them here? Why wasn't he the one who called him?

_This couldn't have anything to do with…_

He shook his head and sped up.

_No._ _Patrick was due for another week or so._

_It couldn't be._

_No._

"Here you are Mr. Eliot."

"Thank you."

Jonathan stepped into the conference room but stopped so abruptly that he nearly fell over when he saw that not only were his children not in the room, but it was full of stern looking agents standing around the table.

Stern looking agents with guns.

"Um...I'm Jonathan Eliot, I'm...I'm looking for my children. Margaret and Gregory? I must be in the wrong room."

A dark haired woman stepped forward.

"No you're in the right place, Mr. Eliot. Maggie and Greg are just getting a snack, they'll be back in a bit. We needed to speak to you first. Would you have a seat please?"

Jonathan hesitated.

"They're getting a snack? Are they alright? No one's really explained what's going on, I really… I really need to get to my children."

A man stepped forward and with a gentle but no nonsense voice he said-

"Mr. Eliot, I'm Special Agent Eppes and we have some questions for you regarding the disappearance of Special Agents Gibbs and DiNozzo. You will see your children but I'm afraid you will have to speak with us first."

Jonathan slid into the nearest chair, his knees weak.

"Tony's missing? Who's Gibbs? What...I was just told that someone broke in, what happened?"

A nervous looking man laid out some papers in front of him and agent Eppes spoke again.

"That's what we're trying to figure out. Do you recognize any of these men?"

Jonathan looked at the agents in confusion then turned to the pictures. He glanced at the two without any recognition but paused on the third, his face paling.

"Oh no. No no no." He shook his head and his breaths came faster and faster until he was nearly hyperventilating.

The woman rushed to his side and kneeled before him.

"Mr. Eliot? Mr. Eliot you need to calm down."

Jonathan focused on the woman and tried to control his breathing.

"Please...please tell me that...that man...tell me he didn't touch my children. Tell me my kids are safe."

Kate put her hand on his shoulder.

"They are safe. Tony kept them safe. And now he's missing. We believe this man took him and another agent. You need to tell us everything you know about this man. Everything."

Jonathan took a deep gulp of air and closed his eyes. His whisper was quiet, but everyone in the room heard it.

"It was supposed to be easy. No one was supposed to get hurt."

…

Kate and Don shared a measured glance before turning back to Jonathan.

"What was supposed to be easy Jonathan?"

The overwrought man buried his face in his hands.

"I...It was...useless, and I couldn't pay for the medicine anymore."

He looked up at the agents with tears streaming down his face.

"Please understand, it was useless, there was no way for it to work, I wouldn't give him anything that would actually hurt anyone. I wouldn't. I promise. He thought it was dangerous, he thought it would be exactly what he wanted and I told him it was...but it wasn't. And he wasn't supposed to come and get it yet, not for another week. Not when Tony was there, not when the kids were there, never when Maggie and Greg were there. That had happened before and I swore never again. I didn't want them in the house with them. I didn't want them hurt. I don't want anyone hurt. No one is supposed to get hurt."

Don moved closer and he could feel David and Colby adjusting themselves to flank his position.

They always had his back.

"Jonathan, what was he after?"

The man pushed the palms of his hands into his eyes and chocked out.

"The Gomorrah."

Don could hear Colby's sharp intake of breath and he leaned back, allowing the man into his place.

"Mr. Eliot. The Gomorrah? You were selling him the plans to the Gomorrah?"

Jonathan nodded misreably and mumbled.

"I needed...my wife is sick. Dying. The new drugs are so expensive and we were stretched so thin, trying to keep up appearances and trying to keep her healthy… I didn't have another choice." He looked Colby in the eyes and his voice pleaded with him to understand.

"You know the Gomorrah?"

Colby nodded.

Jonathan looked relieved.

"Then you know, the project was trashed, the missile wouldn't work. Nothing about it worked, the technology just wasn't there. It's harmless. It can't hurt anyone."

Colby shook his head and sighed, standing and pulling handcuffs from his belt.

"The technology wasn't there five years ago. Who knows now. Anything could have changed."

Jonathan paled as he realized Colby was right. The agent pulled him to his feet and began to read him his rights, but Jonathan didn't even hear him, he was still speaking, still stuttering out to agents, trying to make them understand. Trying to make it better.

"He...he doesn't have the plans. We weren't supposed to make the switch until next week and they weren't in the apartment. He doesn't have anything right now."

David's eyes narrowed and his voice was low as he spoke what every other agent was thinking.

"Yeah he doesn't have anything...Except two special agents."

**Also I know that Eppes and his team (Yay Numb3rs!) was not centered in Washington and they wouldn't have been the ones called in, but I've decided that I'm going to take some creative liberties and move them to Washington for the sake of the story. I really hope that doesn't bother anyone! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay wonderful amazing readers , I have a big announcement! Today I made one of the greatest accomplishments of my 20 years. I...(wait for it)... sewed a button back on my pajama shirt. It took almost an hour, two Batman band-aids (Don't ask) and three feet of thread but that button is never ever coming off that shirt again.  
I've traveled to seven countries, jumped out of an airplane (with a parachute, it was awesome) and was nearly killed in a four wheeler chase involving a crazy voodoo man (Seriously, I'm not joking, really long but good story), but this, this I am pretty proud of. Somewhere my mom is laughing at me, but I feel awfully darn proud of that button. The important thing to realize here is that I am not domestic at all, it just doesn't work for me but I got that button back on the stupid shirt. I then showed it off to my lovely boyfriend and even though he really didn't understand why I was so excited, he gave me a hug and an "I'm proud of you." anyways. And then I felt the need to share it with all of you dear people who I know probably don't care in the slightest, but considering that I am all but shouting it from the rooftops, it kind of had to be done.  
****Anyway, here is chapter 10. I hope you like it! Please tell me what you think, I love hearing from you all!  
~Renee  
*Also there is a point in here where Patrick is speaking to Gibbs where you just might hate him. I certainly do.***

Patrick gestured with the gun to the other side of the room where Steven was waiting angrily.

"Have a seat Agent Gibbs."

"I'd rather not."

Patrick frowned.

"The better you cooperate, the sooner your agent will be returned to you."

Gibbs pursed his lips and backed up until he hit the wall, sliding down it so that both men were in his sight at all times.

"Much better, thank you."

Gibbs stayed quiet, waiting.

Patrick began to pace back and forth, the gun still resting loosely in his fingers, a strange smile on his face.

"Agent Gibbs, I'm curious, are you a fan of movies? Casablanca for instance?"

Gibbs blinked and looked at him incredulously.

_What the...He's like an evil version of Tony...Tony's much older evil twin. My gosh I'm starting to sound like DiNozzo._

"There is a certain quote I do believe would be applicable. 'Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.' Of all the apartments in all the cities in all the world, you come bursting into the one you should have kept your nose out of. But I suppose this really isn't your fault, it was your agent who managed to blunder in over his head. DiNozzo... That one has caused you a lot of trouble hasn't he? How long has he been with you now? About three years? I don't remember Mr. Burley giving you this much bother. I do wonder how you get anything done...but then again, Agent DiNozzo does have a way about him, when you two work together, your closure rate is what...98%? That is rather impressive."

Gibbs looked at him with a neutral expression, but internally his thoughts were scrambling.

_How the hell does he know all of this?_

The man chuckled as he turned, his steps bringing him closer to Gibbs.

"You seem remarkably calm Agent Gibbs. I would be on the verge of a panic right about now, but then again, we all know that you are the unshakable man. I wonder if anything would ruffle your feathers. I suppose after suffering a loss as you have everything else would pale in comparison. To lose your beloved would be painful enough but to have your child taken as well… it is little wonder you let nothing touch you. To be an unfeeling b*st*rd, it must be better than the alternative? Am I correct Agent Gibbs? Was it Shannon and Kelly who made you so cold? Was it the the knowledge that they died alone? Without you to protect them? How does it feel, knowing that Shannon and Kelly were without you, the one time when they needed you the most? I wonder if they had a chance to call out for you? Do you suppose Kelly had the chance to cry for her daddy to save her before the end? Do you think she wondered why you weren't there?"

Gibbs could feel himself lock down as anger rushed through him and the desire, the _need_ to make Patrick_ stop talking_ forced him to his feet.

He launched himself at the man, moving without thought, driven by emotion alone.

With a swift side step, Patrick moved out of the way and Steven caught him in a chokehold, both men looking as if this was exactly what they expected.

Because it was.

Patrick leaned close to Gibbs so that his face was only inches from the fuming agent's and he whispered.

"You really must learn to control your temper Agent Gibbs, it's going to cause some trouble one of these days."

With that he smiled widely and swept out of the room and Steven pushed Gibbs away and followed him, the door shutting firmly behind them.

Gibbs stared at the closed door in shock and pain, realizing where they were going. What his loss of control may have just caused.

_Tony. _

Xxx

McGee was typing frantically and biting his lip while Kate scowled at the plasma. They had a slightly more detailed sketch from Jonathan, but the full name he had provided, Patrick Taylor, had led no where.

David stared at one of the open files and frowned.

"You know something about this that I don't understand?"

Colby raised an eyebrow.

"There's just one thing about this mess you don't understand? Right now not much of anything is making sense."

David rolled his eyes.

"Yeah yeah, but go with me for a minute. The man's after the blueprints to what he thinks is a catastrophic weapon and when what he wants isn't there he...what? Panics? Decides that taking Gibbs and DiNozzo would be the next best thing? What's his plan here? Does he mean to trade? He has to know that we're aware of what's going on by now, does he think he can swap us the agents for the weapon? And if so why hasn't he called? Set up a meeting? What's the plan?"

Colby leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling.

"Well obviously DiNozzo knew nothing about Jonathan's deal with Taylor, he had to think it was...Just a breaking and entering gone wrong?"

Kate didn't look away from the screen but addressed the agents.

"Tony would have been careful no matter what he thought it was. He was outnumbered and unarmed. He would have done anything and everything to keep the kids safe. Whatever he thought was happening, DiNozzo would have been thinking about the kids first. Okay, let's think about this, break it down.  
Jonathan told us that he hadn't met Patrick Taylor yet, he had been dealing with someone named..." McGee flipped some papers and handed her the notes they had taken during the interrogation. "Named Randal Allen. Allen had showed up at his home every month for the past six months with cash deposits and making sure everything was on track, believing that they were being given new information. Then the last month Randal didn't show up, just two men who were armed and demanded he come with them. They brought Jonathan out to their SUV and he said that he was introduced to Patrick Taylor for the first and only time there. It is possible to think that...If that was the only time they had met and Allen had been handling the entire transaction..."

Kate turned and looked the agents and Don picked up her train of thought.

"What if Taylor was unsure of what Jonathan looked like? His plans obviously changed, he had to get rid of Allen, forcing him to meet with Jonathan, but it's dark, Jonathan said Patrick didn't even look at him, just addressed him..."

Colby spoke up, the story unfolding before all of them.

"So Taylor comes to the apartment early, something has happened, he needs the plans now. He finds a man about the right age standing in the apartment and he assumes..."

Kate nodded.

"Tony would have to know that if he wasn't used, Taylor might turn to the children for information, and there was no way he would allow that."

Don began to pace back and forth.

"So he pretends to be someone that could have the information. Fool the men for as long as he could while trying to come up with a plan or hope that someone would call his cell phone that he had already passed on to the kids. He would have to play the part very carefully. How is he undercover?"

Kate rolled her eyes and smiled slightly.

"He would have you think he's the best there is. But he really is rather incredible. He could be just about anyone if he wanted to be."

Colby nodded at David.

"So there's our motivation. Taylor thinks that DiNozzo has the information, then Gibbs shows up and his time is up, so he takes the men with him."

Don nodded then frowned.

"But what explanation would he have for Gibbs showing up? It was DiNozzo's blood on the scene so something must have gone wrong, his cover could have been broken, he could have tried to get between the men and Gibbs, we have a lot of missing pieces."

David sighed.

"Well this _is_ all speculation. Until we find them we have no way of knowing what really happened. We're obviously not going to figure it out without some more….well some more anything."

Colby looked at the papers spread over the various desks with a thoughtful expression.

"Hey Don, you think…"

"Not calling him yet, we don't have enough. The second we have something I think he could use, I'll get a hold of him."

McGee looked up from his computer with confusion.

"Who are you calling?"

Don waved the question away and motioned for him to get back to whatever he was working on.

"The card up my sleeve. When the time comes I may have to call in some help, but right now we don't have enough for him. Don't worry about it. If we have something he can use, he can crack the case wide open, but until then, it's just us."

McGee didn't look very happy but turned back to his computer while Don walked over to Kate to study the information put up on the plasma.

"So where does this leave us?"

She sighed.

"Nowhere."

"Not quite!" McGee jumped from his chair. "I got a hit on our image of Randal Allen. A John Doe was found matching his description in a back alley in downtown DC. The local police are working it now."

Don got to his feet.

"Granger and Todd come with me and we'll go check out the scene and what the local PD have. Maybe we can find a break there."

The two agents grabbed their gear and headed towards the elevator while Don walked backwards and called out instructions for McGee and Sinclair.

"Go see if Abby has anything and then find us everything you can on Allen, I want everything this man has done from the beginning! Somewhere he crossed with Taylor and I want to know where!"

McGee spun back to his computer and David nodded, sorting through piles of files and papers.

Kate smiled grimly as Don slid into the elevator.

"Finally, we've got something."

Don nodded.

"Now let's hope it actually gets us somewhere."

Xxx

Lawrence was smiling and it was seriously creeping Tony out.

He was leaning against a wall, his arms wrapped tightly around his torso as he watched Lawrence leer at him.

It was been silent since the two of them had left the room holding Gibbs and Tony had been forced into a room about the size of his bathroom.

He kept his face still and calm as he regarded Lawrence while his thoughts raced with horrible scenarios involving Gibbs and what could be happening in the other room.

_Please keep him safe. Please God, keep him safe._

Lawrence turned his head to side slightly and mumbled something in Spanish under his breath.

Tony blinked and his tired mind tried sluggishly to catch up.

Before he could unravel what was being said the door opened and Patrick stepped in, followed by a satisfied looking Steven.

Tony raised an eyebrow and buried his worry deep inside of him.

Patrick smiled widely at him and stepped forward.

"Hello Agent DiNozzo."

Tony nodded at him, not trusting his voice until he knew about Gibbs safety.

Patrick looked at him evenly and then he waved to Lawrence. The large man moved faster than Tony thought his size would allow and kicked Tony's legs out from under him, causing him to crumble to floor.

Tony winced as he came in contact with the hard cement but stayed silent.

Patrick came closer and put his foot on Tony's chest, leaning on the leg so his weight was being placed center on Tony's ribcage.

"Anthony DiNozzo Jr. Former Baltimore Detective. Now Senior Field Agent to the great Leroy Jethro Gibbs of NCIS. My my my. How far you've come. And how far you both have to fall. I look forward to watching."

Tony narrowed his eyes and his words held bite and threats and anger.

"What have you done with Gibbs?"

Patrick's smile broadened as he increased the weight on his leg, putting bruising pressure on Tony's aching ribs.

"I've done nothing but make him angry. He is so entertaining when he's angry. His buttons are so fun to push. If you know the right ones, the reaction can be explosive. It's fascinating what a simple name or two can do to a man."

Tony's eyes widened in understanding then narrowed in hatred.

_He wouldn't… How dare he! How would he even know? No one is supposed to know, Gibbs isn't even aware that I know..._

He laughed quietly.

"Oh yes, I didn't lay a finger on him, but I didn't need to. His dear Shannon and Kelly did my work for me."

Tony's whisper came out unbidden but full of rage.

"You b*st*rd. You have no right to speak of them."

Patrick's face went still and he leaned down until impossibly, his face was inches from Tony's, his breath hot on his cheek.

"No right? I have every right. Any right. There is nothing I dare not to do. I can do anything I want. Anything."

Tony growled but his air was cut off as Patrick adjusted his position, so he was standing above Tony again, moving his foot to Tony's neck. He choked at the lack of air and moved his hands to Patrick's ankle, digging his nails into his leg, trying to remove the pressure.

Patrick's voice was cold and calm as he looked down at the incapacitated agent.

"Anything."

Finally, after days, weeks, months, he removed his foot and Tony could breathe, the air rushing down his abused throat.

Patrick crouched down next to him while Tony tried to measure his breathing and keep track of the men watching him, smiling at him.

"Now Tony, are you going to behave?"

Tony closed his eyes and spat his answer, pausing several times to pull in air but refusing to cower to the man.

"If I don't... behave for... Gibbs...what the hell...makes you think...I'd do it...for you?"

Patrick laughed again and Tony decided that if he never heard the man make the sound again he could die happy.

"Oh Tony, there is that attitude again. You do have such spirit."

Patrick reached down and began to brush Tony's slightly shaggy hair away from his face and Tony held back the urge to to vomit at the man's touch.

"So Tony, your precious Gibbs hasn't figured out our connection yet. Have you?"

Tony looked at him, but didn't reply. He hadn't figured it out, but he hadn't been giving it a lot of thought, he had been a little bit consumed with _what_ could be happening to Gibbs, not _why._

Patrick shook his head mournfully.

"Oh Tony, I had such high hopes for you."

Tony drew in a painful breath.

"How about you... explain it to me, bad guys... love monologuing."

Patrick's hand twisted in his hair, gripping and pulling.

"Ah, and there goes that wit. But alright Tony, you want an explanation, I suppose I can do that."

_Finally._

"Tell me Tony, do you enjoy being an NCIS agent?"

Tony raised an eyebrow but answered honestly.

"Yes."

"I understand why you would. The action, the stakes, it pulls you in. Sinks it's teeth in you until there is nothing else you would ever want to do. But then, every once in a while, something happens that makes one unfit for service. And then the job is nothing but a torment. It does nothing but makes you...hate." He paused and looked at Tony curiously, "My father was an NIS agent. My grandfather was a Naval officer. It's the family business so to speak. It's amazing the size of the footsteps one is supposed to follow. But then again, you would know all about disappointing parents, wouldn't you?"

Tony stared at him and was careful to keep his voice even as he spoke with quiet certainty, the room echoing with his words.

"You were an agent."


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys, it's going to be a few days till the next upload, it's time for the big move. Next chapter will be up as soon as possible I promise. I hope you all enjoy and please tell me what you think! And yes Charlie is going to show up, He was always my favorite and my main motivation for the Numb3rs boys dropping in. He's going to come round soon.  
****~Renee  
By the way, thank you so much to everyone who supported my victory over the button. :) **

Patrick's face was beet red and if Tony wasn't about to push one of the most unstable men had ever met just one step too far, he might find it a little funny.

"What did you just say to me?"

Tony smiled, hard and cold, his mind full of what Patrick had said to Gibbs, what he had put the other man through with his words alone.

He lashed out, eager to prove Patrick wasn't the only one with a razor tongue.

"You heard me. The agency didn't fail you Patrick, you failed it. You were a coward who couldn't handle the pressure and when push came to shove you ran. You ran just like child. I may not have followed in my father's footsteps but I've never turned away from a challenge. Tell me, did your father look at you in disgust when they kicked you out. When you landed on your *ss and came begging on his doorstep did he look at you like you were the sh*t on his shoes? I bet he did. I would. Someone who runs… Just couldn't fit in those footsteps. I wonder what else you can't fit in..."

Patrick let out a cry of rage and came at the agent who rolled away and pushed himself off the wall so that he could get to his feet. With a surge of adrenaline he flung himself on top of Patrick and slammed his fist into his face. Patrick's guttural cry brought Steven and Lawrence running from where they had been stationed down the hall.

The foolish man had assumed that he would be able to handle Tony, that once they started talking he would be too tired and too hurt to even consider fighting back.

He was wrong.

Tony knew he had seconds left, he had to make it count. He slammed his elbow into the man's solar plexus and slipped his hand into his jacket and half a second later he was being hauled off of him and Spanish curse words were being screamed from every direction.

Patrick writhed on the floor until Steven reached down and carefully helped him to his feet.

He looked at Tony and touched his now very broken nose.

"You will regret that."

...

Fourteen steps.

Six paces.

Endless amounts of space when it came to imaging what could be happening to his senior field agent as he paced back and forth.

Gibbs' emotions roiled with conflict as guilt, sorrow and anger battled for dominance.

Sorrow- Oh Shannon. Kelly. His girls. His family. How did that b*st*rd know? How?

Anger- No one was supposed to talk about it. _No one._ Using them against him. That was unforgivable. Using them to make him lose his temper, to act out so Tony would be hurt? That earned punishment. Punishment that Gibbs was looking forward to distributing.

Guilt- How could he lose control like that? He knew Patrick was pushing his buttons. He knew he was after a reaction, and he gave him one anyway. He knew and acted regardless. Whatever happened to Tony, it was on his head now.

Gibbs clenched his fists and turned again, his long legs eating up the space of the room as he quickly moved up and down the walls.

He growled at the silence in the room, not for the first time wishing that Tony's chatter was there to break up the unending quiet.

As much as he grumbled at the younger man, he honestly did enjoy listening to DiNozzo talk.

He always had the feeling that no one really listened to Tony when he was a child, so he tried to make up for it now by talking non-stop.

Gibbs sighed as he paused at the wall opposite of the door, leaning his head against the rough plaster.

He had no answers.

No way out.

And no DiNozzo.

No DiNozzo.

It had been a while since he had been forced to think about life without Tony. It had been about a year ago, when Tony was coming up to his two year mark at NCIS that he had actually paused to think about what it would be like if the younger man decided to move on. He had never lasted longer than two years at any station, and sometimes Gibbs could thought he could almost see the wonderlust coming over his agent. He didn't like the thought.

Not at all.

Tony belonged there.

Everybody knew it.

Even Tony.

He had told himself Tony wasn't going to run.

He was a good agent. And he was going to stay.

He knew if he left Gibbs would kick his *ss anyway.

Still on the two year anniversary, Gibbs stood in the bullpen and waited.

And Tony didn't come.

_"Tony Tony Tony Tony!"_

_Abby 's pigtails came bouncing over the divider as she ran towards the desks, searching for the agent._

_His desk was empty. _

_She spun around and searched the bullpen, as if she had missed him or he hadn't heard her call._

_"Tony? Gibbs? He was supposed to be here an hour ago. He's not here yet?"_

_He shook his head._

_"No Abby. He's not."_

_She looked at him with something akin to horror._

_"But it's...it's our anniversary. Your's mine and his. You don't think he...he wouldn't have..."_

_He put a hand out and patted her on the shoulder._

_"No Abs he wouldn't have. I'm going to go find him."_

_"Wait! Let me track him, if he's hiding then he knows you're coming for him, he might not be at the apartment."_

_"If he's hiding he'll probably turn off his cell."_

_Abby looked at him with wide eyes._

_"Well, you see...the trackers not exactly in his cell..."_

_He blinked at her and nodded, biting back a smile and not wanting to ask._

_"Hurry."_

_…_

_Gibbs barreled down the highway, his car going way too fast. Abby had found Tony in minutes, and he wasn't where anyone was expecting. _

_The tracker she had sneakily placed on the bottom of his car was blinking away on the highway, and it hadn't moved in over an hour, showing that Tony had gotten up to leave but something had stopped him on the way._

_His car took the turn and for a brief moment he drove with only two tires touching the ground._

_When he saw the scores of emergency vehicles, his heart jumped in his throat and guilt rushed over him._

_He should have checked on him sooner._

_He jerked his car to a stop and leaped from the vehicle, his mind intent on finding his agent._

_Spotting the nearest ambulance he ran towards it, hoping, praying wishing._

Please.

_When he reached the paramedic and saw the gurney being loaded he was unable to see anything but a shock of dark brown hair._

_Hair that was slowly being turned crimson._

_"Tony." _

_He pushed a policeman out of the way and jumped into the bus, anxious to see his senior field agent._

_His friend._

_The paramedic looked at him in shock._

_"Sir you can't-"_

_Gibbs held up a badge._

_"NCIS. This is my agent, what happened?"_

_A low moan pulled his attention back to the man in question and Gibbs looked down. _

_His eyes widened in shock._

_It wasn't Tony._

_Feeling confused and desperate he pulled himself back out of the ambulance and took a few steps backwards, ignoring the stares he was getting from the first responders. _

_An officer stepped up._

_"Sir can I-"_

_He held up his badge again._

_"Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS. I'm looking for one of my agents, I have reason to believe he is-"_

_"NCIS! Right of course! DiNozzo your boy?"_

_Gibbs looked at him, hope sparking. _

_The man sounded...proud. Not apologetic. Proud. _

My boy.

_"Yes, do you know where he is?"_

_The officer pointed towards a car that was still flipped on its side and Gibbs took off, not even hearing what the man was saying. _

_As he came closer to the car, the sounds of chaos faded and things began to calm. A fireman looked at him in confusion from his station near the car._

_"DiNozzo?"_

_The man's brow cleared and he pointed to the other side of the car. Gibbs stepped closer and could hear a familiar voice coming from over the wreckage. _

_"So the big bad wolf decided he didn't want people to think he was bad, cause he really wasn't. Yes he was a wolf, and yes he was big, but he wasn't bad. Not really. So he started a foundation for all the pigs in Snow White's kingdom, building them houses made of bricks and then he started a bakery for Little Red Riding Hood and her grandma. Then his only problem was the crazy lumberjack following him around!"_

_Gibbs stared down at Tony in surprise. He lay on the ground in his nice suit, his head, shoulders and arms inside the windshield of the partially crushed vehicle. Gibbs kneeled down and could see a young woman and small child in the car, both buckled in and both pinned. The little boy was entranced by Tony's story, as random as it seemed to be and the mother was looking at him with gratitude. Tony glanced to the side and smiled at Gibbs._

_"Well if it isn't the big bad wolf himself. Hey boss...so I might be a little late today..." _

Gibbs smiled at the memory, Tony had come across the wreck on the way to work and stopped to help out, losing track of time while he tried to calm the mother and child. It had taken another hour but they had finally managed to get the family out of the car. It had taken even longer to get the grateful mother away from Tony.

After dragging the agent back to NCIS, Abby hadn't let him out of her sight for the rest of the day, sure that he was going to disappear.

Gibbs wasn't worried anymore though.

Tony had looked at him, smiled and settled himself at his desk.

Message clear.

He was home. He was with family.

Family.

And he was.

Tony had worked his way slowly but surely into the gruff marine's life until Gibbs couldn't imagine a world without him. He and Shannon had always talked about having another child but after Kelly it had never worked out for them. He liked to think that if he did have a son, he would be like Tony.

Compassionate. Kind. Stubborn. Always standing up for what he believed in.

Tony.

Tony needed a father. He was meant to have one.

Gibbs was meant to be one.

They were what the other needed.

It shouldn't be a surprise that they found each other.

He sighed and started pacing again.

And waited.

Xxx

Don looked down at the body and grimaced.

Whatever this man had done to anger Patrick Taylor, it must have really been something.

The man had been severely beaten then stabbed in the stomach and left in the alley to bleed out. It looked like a mugging gone wrong but Kate and Don saw something else entirely. Don turned to the lead investigator of the case.

"We're going to need everything you have on this, we believe his murder is related to the disappearance of two federal agents."

The man balked for a moment then shrugged, didn't really matter to him, it was one less thing he had to handle.

He went to collect the paperwork and meager evidence, leaving Kate and Don alone in the morgue with the body.

Don looked at the figure and murmured. "No criminal is perfect, we'll find something." Kate nodded while Don leaned closer to the body studying the bruises with a clinical eye. "Overkill. Whoever did this was enraged."

"DiNozzo's good at making people angry and Gibbs is a stubborn b*st*rd. If any two people can push people to their limits, it's those two."

"They'll watch out for each other."

She smiled slightly and looked at Don.

"They always do."

She stared back at the deceased and tried her hardest not to picture Gibbs or Tony laying in his place.

Don looked over at her and sensed her turmoil, the struggle to stay positive.

"We're going to find them Agent Todd."

She nodded.

"I know we will, but will we find them in time?"

Xxx

Gibbs had no idea how long had been sitting alone in the room before the door opened. He lurched to his feet and looked at the large man who stood in the doorway, gloating at him.

They stared each other down for a long moment before the hulking figure nodded and moved out of the way, allowing the other man to step further into the room.

Gibbs' heart nearly stopped when he saw his agent being dragged into the room.

"Tony." The name from fell his lips in a whisper so quiet that he himself could barely hear it, but Tony still lifted his head at the call, and smiled at his boss, blood dripping from his lip.

The men unceremoniously dumped Tony on the floor and turned around, leaving the two alone.

Gibbs scrambled over to his agent who was already trying to sit up.

"DiNozzo, hold still, let me see."

Tony coughed and looked down at himself with distaste.

"You know something Boss… I don't think...they like me...very much."

Gibbs forced a smile as he carefully lowered him back to the ground.

"It's that sparkling personality of yours DiNozzo. Brings out the best in everyone."

Tony smiled and closed his eyes, leaning into Gibbs touch as he carefully probed the bruising on Tony's face. His eyes followed the trail of bruises down his neck and disappearing into his sweatshirt that was spotted with new blood stains. His hand drifted to Tony's neck where a dark purple bruise was blossoming. He gently brushed the tender area and winced with sympathy.

He didn't want to ask. He really didn't.

"What happened?"

"Patrick has a... really short temper and...really likes to make his point. Not to mention, I don't think they like my jokes."

Gibbs closed his eyes and sighed.

"I'm sorry Tony."

He could feel Tony jump underneath his hand.

"Boss?"

He looked back down at Tony and saw his eyes wide and worried.

"Boss, I think they might have hit my head harder than I thought because you just...rule six and...what..."

Gibbs put his hand on his forehead.

"Patrick goaded me on and I lost my temper. I played right into his hands. And then he went after you, this is my fault."

Tony shook his head and tried to sit up again.

"D*mn it DiNozzo, stay down!"

"No, Boss listen to me. I'm fine, this isn't your fault, I'm fi-"

"Fine? Are you listening to yourself? Tony you've been shot and...well d*mn it, look at you."

Tony rolled his eyes and pushed off his hand, trying to get in a better position to argue than flat on his back.

"Boss I...you know this would be a lot easier on both of us if you would just help me instead of pushing me back down. That doesn't exactly feel _good._"

Gibbs grimaced and sighed, helping Tony sit up and lean on the wall.

"He stitched up my side boss, not very well and with the world's longest needle, and personally I think he enjoyed it a little bit too much, but I'm not in danger of bleeding out any more. He doesn't want anyone to die yet, don't worry. I'm not just going to keel over, I'm okay."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. Frankly he was amazed Tony was even still making complete sentences, him losing too much blood was a very real possibility that had been hovering for quite a while now.

"Look Gibbs, it looks a lot worse than it is, I promise. Just some bruises. Some _mild _bruises. Patrick is just trying to mess with your head, that's all. This _isn't your fault._ I made him mad all on my own."

Gibbs began to carefully lift the battered sweatshirt much to Tony's consternation.

"Oh I don't doubt you had a hand in it DiNozzo, you have a habit of pissing off the wrong people. What did you do? And hold still." He shook his head at Tony's reluctance to show him the damage.

_Mild bruises my *ss. _

Tony flinched and then sighed as Gibbs probed the dark stitches and expansive bruising covering his stomach and chest.

"I got under his skin….pushed him a little farther than I should have. You know me boss, I just don't know when to quit. I found his weak spot and…"

Tony gave him a half smile that didn't belay the anger simmering in his eyes. Gibbs looked at him curiously, Patrick had made his agent mad, and when that happened, when that truly happened, Tony became dangerous. Whatever he had found on Patrick, he would have gone after it with a vengeance. Tony's smile widened slightly then slowly faded into something else. His eyes flickered to the side and then came back to Gibbs.

"DiNozzo?"

"Gibbs...Patrick's issue with us? How he knows you? He was an agent. He was one of us boss."

Gibbs stared at him in shock, then his own eyes widened as the memory rushed in.

"He's Patrick Wilson… he was on Trenton's team. How could I forget that?"

Tony smirked and tried to tug his sweatshirt back down.

"I'm glad you remember boss, but I'm not done yet. The weapon he's after from Jonathan?"

Gibbs nodded and slapped Tony's hands away from his shirt so he could get a better look at the stitches.

"Boss."

Tony reached his hand over and grabbed Gibbs' wrist, making him look him in the eye.

"Gibbs, he wants to use it against NCIS. It's the target."

Gibbs stared at him in shock.

"He's going to..."

"Unless we do something first."

Gibbs nodded.

"We have to get out of here."

Tony smiled.

"One step ahead of you boss."

He slipped his hand into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a thin silver key.

Gibbs looked at from the key to him and back again.

"How did you..."

Tony chuckled.

"Work smarter..."

Gibbs smiled and finished it for him.

"Not harder."


	12. Chapter 12

**Okay, somewhere between loading the moving truck, pulling my hair out and considering the benefits of becoming a gypsy, I found the time to type this. I also contemplated purchasing a turtle but after talking it over with Rick (my cat) I decided against it. Don't know why that needed to be said, but it felt appropriate. Anyway, this chapter isn't very long and I'm sorry about that, but I hope you still like it. Please tell me what you think! Chapter 13 should be up within the next few days.  
****Hope you're having a great one** **and thank you so much for all the amazing reviews, your beautiful words encourage me so much!  
~Renee**

Tony beamed up at the man, basking in the pride that for once he was feeling in full force, and trying desperately not to fall over as the room spun dangerously.

"Do I even want to know how you really got this?"

Tony chuckled darkly.

"Patrick can't take a punch."

Gibbs winced and pocketed the key, not wanting to think about what fighting Patrick would have cost his agent. As if he could read his mind, Tony reached over and squeezed his shoulder,

"Gibbs, this isn't the time. You have to move."

Gibbs nodded and bent down to help Tony to his feet. The younger man bit back a groan as the world righted itself and Gibbs took most of his weight.

Tony looked at him with determination, knowing that Gibbs wasn't going to like this, but having to make the argument anyway.

"Boss, you need-"

"Shut up DiNozzo."

"Gibbs?" Tony looked at him with surprise as Gibbs leaned so close that their noses were nearly touching.

"Semper Fi DiNozzo. Do I need to explain that to you? I'm not leaving you here. You can stop that thought before it starts."

Tony sighed.

"Gibbs, I'm not exactly at my best here, I'm just going to slow you down and you-"

Gibbs slapped the back of his head and gave him a gentle version of his patented glare.

"He's doesn't even have the plans, NCIS isn't in any real danger yet and if you think I'm going anywhere without you, you've got another thing coming. Now be quiet and get a move on."

Tony's lips quirked into a smile and he shook his head.

"On your six boss."

Together the two made their way over to the door where Gibbs carefully slipped in the key.

They exchanged glances and rearranged themselves so that Tony was leaning on the wall next to the door and Gibbs was prepared for whatever or whoever was on the other side.

Tony held up three fingers and Gibbs nodded.

_One._

_Two. _

_Three._

Gibbs slid the door open in one smooth motion and came out braced for a fight with the element of surprise on his side.

No one was there.

He looked up and down the hall and motioned for Tony. The Italian pushed himself off the wall and carefully followed Gibbs into the hall, gripping onto the doorframe to keep himself from landing on his face. Gibbs raised his eyebrows at him and dipped his head at the hallway stretching in both directions, his question clear.

_Which way do we go?_

Tony shrugged.

_D*mned if I know._

Gibbs narrowed his eyes at him.

_Some help you are._

Tony grinned.

_I was a little bit preoccupied the last time I was out here._

Gibbs sighed and looked back down the hall, his eyes darting back and forth, trying to choose blind.

When he looked to the left, his gut twitched and he gently grabbed Tony's arm.

"This way." He hissed.

"Wait." Tony turned back to the door, pulled it shut and locked it back. "Might take them longer to realize we're gone."

Gibbs nodded and the two made their way down the hall as quickly and quietly as they could with Tony barely able to stand on his feet. Gibbs pulled Tony's arm over his shoulder and managed to take most of the younger man's weight, grimacing as Tony's breath caught when the rough stitches in his side pulled.

Tony let out a long breath of air and didn't look at Gibbs, instead choosing to study the hallway they were wandering down. He furrowed his brow and murmured quietly, almost to himself-

"You know what this reminds me of?"

"If you start talking about a movie DiNozzo so help me-"

Tony shook his head and whispered-

"Not this time Boss. When I was kid my dad took me on a business trip with him to Maui, then forgot he brought me, and left me alone in a four star hotel for two days while he flew back to New York. The first night I left the room about three in the morning and went wandering down the halls, and this is exactly what it looked like. Empty hallway, all the doors, so quiet."

Gibbs stared at the man and then back up to the hallway.

He was right. It was like a hotel.

An old disgusting abandoned hotel, but one none the less.

He squeezed Tony's shoulder.

"Good job DiNozzo, we're one step closer to figuring out where we are."

Tony grinned but didn't reply and Gibbs looked at his agent worriedly. Tony's eyes were bright and the shadows under his eyes were almost as dark as the bruises stretching up from his neck to his jaw. His sweatshirt was littered with dark red/brown blotches and random rips. Tony looked over at Gibbs and followed his eyes down to himself. Lowering his voice to a rough whisper he grinned as they continued past closed doors and down the never ending hall.

"I think Patty owes me a new sweatshirt.."

Gibbs snorted to hide his worry and grinned grimly when he saw the stairs come up after another turn.

"I'll make sure he pays up."

Tony looked at the stairs with disgust.

"For this, I want a new suit too."

Gibbs rolled his eyes and started down the stairs, ever mindful of the noises Tony _wasn't_ making as his abused body protested the movement.

"You still with me DiNozzo?"

"...Al...Always boss."

Gibbs could hear the strain but felt himself warm at the answer.

_Always._

He tightened his grip on Tony as they moved farther down the stairs.

"We're almost there DiNozzo, not too much farther."

Tony moved his head and stayed quiet, his face pale.

As they moved down the steps Tony internally made a list of all the things he hated more than stairs.

_Patrick. _

_Brussel Sprouts._

_Sequels._

_Remakes._

_Um…_

Yup, that covered it. All the things in life that were worse than these stairs. And if he had survived those things, he could surely make it down a flight of stairs, right? Besides, Gibbs was here and there was no way Gibbs was _not _going to let him make it. The man simply did not understand how to take no for an answer. It was his way or the highway and that was all there was to it. He was sure that if push came to shove Gibbs would even order him to keep living if he had to, though he did admit, he really didn't want things to ever get that far. And they wouldn't. Gibbs would't let them and neither would he. Although resting...resting sounded pretty good right about now. He had been walking for a really long time, and he was so tired. The last time he had slept was...was a long time ago. He was tired and hurting and just wanted to close his eyes for a second. Surely Gibbs would let him close his eyes for a _second_, as long as he kept walking. He could do that, couldn't he? He was just _so tired_.

"Tony?"

_Yeah?_

"Tony!"

_What Gibbs?_

"DiNozzo report!"

"'N 're six bss."

Gibbs watched in horror as Tony's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he promptly lost the battle with his rebelling body. The agent went limp and would have tumbled the rest of the way down the staircase if Gibbs wouldn't have gripped his arm and swung the man around, pressing him against his chest.

"I've got you Tony, hold on, I've got you."

Gibbs glanced behind them and felt a shiver of unease go through him. They were pushing it, it was only a matter of time before someone checked on them and realized that they were gone, or Patrick found that his key were missing.

Silently he apologized as he lifted his agent and heaved him over his shoulders into the fireman's carry, and began to hurry down the stairs at a steady clip.

When the reached to the bottom, he looked carefully around the corner.

The large open room was empty and he moved cautiously through it, his tired eyes taking in every detail.

Three wide tables were set up in the center of the room, papers scattered over them. Curiousity burning through him, he moved towards them, careful to listen for any sign that they could be discovered. The papers varied in size and type and Gibbs narrowed his eyes when he recognized one set. It was the classified blueprints to NCIS headquarters.

_How the hell did he get a hold of these?_

Xxx

Sinclair stood in the center of the bullpen and stared at the plasma, looking at the sketch of the subject. They were missing something. Just one thing could blow this wide open, they just had to figure out what it was. They were so close.

"Agent Sinclair?"

"Yeah McGee?"

"I...I think I found something."

David looked over at the agent in surprise then hurried over to his desk.

"What do you have?"

"Allen's bank statements. Up until about three years ago he was so far in red the bank owned everything except the clothes on his back. Then one day he comes in and pays everything off. Since then he's had more than enough money to spare."

David's eyebrows rose as he read over the statements.

"I think we just found when Patrick Taylor hired him. Looks like he's been doing his dirty work for quite a while. Good job McGee. Now let's just figure out what he was doing around that time that would have brought him in contact with Taylor."

McGee opened his mouth to comment but was interrupted by his desk phone ringing.

"Agent McGee."

He straightened and paled.

"Yes Director. Well Agents Todd and Eppes are… they would be more equipped to...yes sir. We'll be right up."

He hung up and swallowed, looking at David with wide eyes.

"Director wants a sit rep. And he wants it now."

David nodded.

"Okay then, let's go."

McGee stared at him, how could he so relaxed about this?

David looked back.

"You coming?"

"Um, yeah, coming."

The two made their way up the stairs and disappeared into the office the exact moment the elevator opened.

The curly haired man stepped out of the box and glanced around the room with curious anxious eyes. Spotting the area his brother had described, the man headed towards the desks watching for a familiar face. Or any face really, where was everybody?

He paused in the center of the desks and looked around, there were papers everywhere and one stack had a sticky note on top that said 'Charlie figure out'. The man smiled to himself as he picked up the sheets of paper and began to rifle through them.

"Who are you?"

He jumped slightly and dropped a couple of pieces of the file which he quickly made to pick up before turning. Collecting himself he turned to face who he thought would be an agent and found himself looking at a woman that didn't appear to be that much older than he was, with black hair, pale skin and a dog collar round her neck. He blinked at all the spikes and answered automatically.

"I'm Doctor Charlie Eppes. Don sent me. Well he called me, Agent Don- Agent Eppes that is. He called me to come down and help..."

The girl smiled and looked at him with a curious expression, as if she was trying remember something.

"Charlie Eppes….Oh my goodness, I read your book! Friendship math!"

He smiled and nodded.

"That is so cool! And you're helping us?"

He nodded again, a little unsure of who exactly he was talking to and how much he could say.

"That is amazing. I can't believe you're the same Eppes, I tried reading your book to Timmy but he just stared at me. I mean the guy went to MIT, he should get this no problem, right? Okay you should come with me, I don't know where everyone disappeared to, but I want to show off what I've found anyway! And now I can show it to you, this is perfect!"

Abby reached out and grabbed his hand, lacing her fingers with his as she cheerily pulled him along, chattering all the way. Charlie glanced around in shock, looking for someone, anyone, to explain what was going on because he had no idea what he was getting himself into. Seeing no one who could help, he shrugged to himself and gripped the folder tightly in his free hand, hoping that he wasn't about to get himself into trouble.

Xxx

Gibbs turned away from the plans and scanned the rest of the tables. Random papers were scattered around, but nothing that gave them a hint to where they were or anyway to contact reinforcement. He glanced around the empty room again and muttered to himself-

"Where is everybody?"

As if beckoned by his query, he could hear noises coming from upstairs. He cursed under his breath and scanned the space, looking for somewhere they could hide, or at least someplace where he could get Tony out of the line of fire.

He took two steps towards the double doors on the opposite wall when he heard the shout and the thundering footsteps.

They knew.

They were coming.


	13. Chapter 13

**So I am really hoping the phrase "better late than never" applies here. I have been typing about 200 words a day all week. There just hasn't been time. Classes started up again and moving was nuts. It did go well though and thank you so much to all the well wishers, and I am so sorry it took so long for this to be posted. It's going to be really hard to get updates posted on a regular basis, but I will try to get at least one up a week.  
****I hope you all enjoy, please tell me what you think!  
~Renee**

Charlie looked around the lab with appreciation. Confusion was definitely overwhelming everything else, but appreciation had to be in there somewhere too.

"And I just couldn't figure out why we weren't getting any hits on the sketch, I mean we should have gotten something by now. So I decided to expand our search perimeters. Maybe there was something we were missing, maybe I could just push it a little bit farther. And while those have been running I've been going over the video again, I mean I've watched it three dozen times now, but there has to something. Tony says all the time 'There's always something' so I dug deeper and stopped focusing on the man in charge and decided to think a little more about the car-"

Charlie looked at her and nodded as she continued to talk so fast that every other word seemed to be buzzing. He really had no idea what she was talking about, Don hadn't given him a lot of information. He had just said there were two missing agents and they had nothing to go on.

"So I looked farther into the black SUV, the plate was obscured in every picture we have but I have several robberies linked to a black SUV with muddied plates. So it could be connected, right?"

Charlie was still a little unsure of what was going on, but it wasn't hard to tell she needed comfort and reassurance. He could at least offer that.

"Abby, Don's team is the best. We're going to find them. I'm sure of it. If it's connected, then we will find out."

She sniffled and nodded, smiling at him before turning back to her computer.

"You're right, and Kate and Tim won't stop till we find them either. I have nothing to worry about."

Charlie smiled, happy that she no longer looked like she was in danger of bursting into tears.

"Abby?"

The two turned to see McGee standing in the doorway looking at Charlie curiously. And defensively.

"Hey Tim!"

"Hi Abby...Who's your friend?"

He regarded Charlie with guarded eyes, moving towards Abby possessively.

Charlie prepared to introduced himself as David stepped into the room.

"Charlie! Bout time you got here man! Where you been?"

Charlie smiled at David and stepped towards him, grateful to finally see a familiar face.

"Hey David, I had to finish class, but I left as soon as I could. I've been here about an hour now, Abby was showing me lab and showing me what she had found."

Tim looked between Abby and Charlie, his eyebrows gathering.

"Abby showed you...I'm sorry, who are you?"

Charlie offered a hand towards McGee but once again David interrupted.

"He's the card up Don's sleeve."

Charlie froze and looked over at David with an undecipherable expression.

"'The card up Don't sleeve?' is that what he is referring to me as now?"

He shrugged and smiled.

"Sorry Chuck."

Charlie rolled his eyes and turned back to McGee.

"I'm Charlie Eppes, Don's brother. I would have been here sooner, but I had to wait for my class to finish. I take it Don didn't tell you I was coming?"

McGee raised his eyebrows as he shook his hand.

"I'm agent Tim McGee. Waiting for a class? You're a student?"

Charlie chuckled quietly while David outright laughed.

"He's a professor. Doctor Charles Eppes. He's...I guess we'd call you a consultant?"

Charlie shrugged.

"I suppose so. I just come when Don needs me."

David smiled to himself and nodded.

"When does Don not need you? Well now that we're all introduced, do you have something Abby?"

She bounced and turned back to her computer.

"I was just telling Charlie that-"

She was interrupted by another voice.

"Hey Abby is there anyway that- Charlie! You made it!"

The room turned as one to see Kate, Don and Colby sweeping into the room.

Charlie smiled and gravitated automatically over to his brother.

"Hey Don. Colby."

Colby greeted the mathematician brightly while Don introduced Kate to his brother.

"Nice to meet you Charlie."

"And you Agent Todd."

She smiled widely at him.

"Please call me Kate."

David and Colby exchanged amused glances as the agent subtly gave their friend the once over.

"Did you need something Agent Eppes?"

Don handed Abby a bag of evidence.

"Everything from the Allen murder, can you run it and see if we can find anything connecting it to Patrick Taylor? Or whoever this guy is..."

She nodded and spun her chair around.

"Can do Captain. Now, are any of you interested in what I have discovered?"

The room hushed as Kate stepped forward.

"Wow us Abby."

She smiled and her fingers began to dance across the keys.

"Alright so I have no hits on the sketch, so I extended my search and then started looking at the SUV-"

"Patrick Wilson."

The seven turned as one at the whisper and stared at the man in the doorway.

Don recovered first.

"Director Morrow?"

The man stepped forward and walked towards the copy of the sketch taped to the computer. He tapped a finger on the sketch and the teams watched as his face grew stormy and his eyes went dark with anger.

"D*mn it all to hell, Patrick Wilson. He was an agent. He worked for NCIS about eight years ago."

Abby, Tim and Kate stared at each other in shock while Don, Charlie, David and Colby all exchanged measured glances.

"He was...he was NCIS?"

Xxx

Gibbs gripped Tony tighter and ran towards the doors, trying not to jostle the younger man anymore than necessary but knowing that time was not on their side.

He hit the doors without finesse and burst into a hallway. Tony groaned as they slammed through the doors and the two of them fell to the floor in the hallway.

"Sorry DiNozzo. I'm working on it."

Tony's eyes fluttered as he mumbled.

"s'kay Boss."

Gibbs smiled fondly as he heaved his barely conscious agent back onto his shoulders. He looked around himself and bit back a sigh of frustration. Another hallway. And he had no idea where to go.

_Left worked last time. _

_Left it is._

He ran down the hallway, adrenaline pumping, blocking the weight of his SFA. He continued down the twisting, turning, never-ending halls and contemplated for a moment if he was in hell, cursed to carry his best friend for the rest of forever down a maze of hallways.

He was nearly brought up short when he suddenly realized what had just crossed his mind. His feet continued moving and his eyes and ears kept a sharp look out for anyone who might come across their path, but his thoughts were pumping.

_His best friend. _

_What?_

He was Gibbs. Leroy Jethro Second b for B*st*rd Gibbs.

He didn't _have_ friends. He had people who owed him favors. People who owed him their lives. People who were scared of him. People who admired him. People who downright despised him. Not friends. Not really. Abby And Ducky, that was it.

Hell, with the exception of Ducky and Abby he couldn't really even think of anyone else who even liked him. Maybe Fornell. On a good day.

But Tony…

Tony never begrudged his company, or let his foul temper turn him away. He came over with pizza to watch him build the boat or drag him to the tv to watch the game. He knew how to be quiet and he knew how to talk to keep Gibbs' thoughts away from the shadows. He listened when Gibbs wasn't talking, hearing what wasn't being said. He saw the walls, acknowledged that they were there, and then climbed right over them, settling himself snugly in the older man's heart, safe and warm in the space firmly reserved for family.

Gibbs blinked at the realization.

He knew he cared about Tony, looked at him like he was family, but when _did_ he become as precious as the memories he held so close? When did he stop looking at him as an agent and start looking at him like a friend, a_ son_? Was it the moment he saw him laying inside a broken vehicle trying to stop a child from crying? The day he saw him looking at a disgusting excuse for an apartment like it was viable option for a home? Or could it be all the way back when the young man had stepped in-between him and Abby, concussed, broken and bleeding, holding a gun at him and babbling in Italian, confused but fully believing that the lost goth he had let into his home was being threatened by the older grey man...

Because that was the moment he knew that his team wouldn't be complete without him.

Because sometimes you just know.

Tony shifted his weight slightly and Gibbs gripped him even tighter.

_Friends._

_Family._

_Tony._

"You with me Tony?"

The agent muttered something that was not in English and probably wasn't repeatable and worked on lifting his head.

Tony blinked a couple times and tried to clear his vision, he knew he wanted to be awake, but his body just insisted on shutting down. Normally he was better at keeping himself moving. He moved slightly and realized that he wasn't walking, wasn't sitting and wasn't exactly comfortable.

"Boss?"

Gibbs saw a window and made a bee-line for it, hoping to gain some bearing to their location.

"Right here DiNozzo."

Tony nodded. Well that question was answered. And if Gibbs was here, then things couldn't be too bad. Or at least, they could only get so much worse. His boss would only let him get in so much trouble before he threw down the gauntlet and stepped between him and whatever was threatening him. That usually was the only cause of problems between them, Gibbs need to protect Tony and Tony's blatant disregard for his own health.

Tony forced himself to focus enough to see that they were still in the almost hotel that Patrick had stuck them in but in a different hallway, and Gibbs was now apparently carrying him around like a sack of flour.

Gibbs looked out the window and nodded to himself. Warehouse district. Well it couldn't get much more cliché than that.

"Okay Tony," He murmured. "I'm getting us out of here, just stay with me."

Tony huffed a chuckle.

"Don't...really see myself...going anywhere boss."

That pretty much used the end of his energy as Tony let his head fall back down and he eyed the carpet with interest. Maybe the clue to their escape lied in the aged and oh so ugly pattern.

You never know.

Gibbs glanced back down the hall and sighed, he had two options. He could either continue running down the halls with Tony thrown over his back and hope that they didn't crash into the violent maniacs chasing them down.

Or he could try to take out the window and see if they could fit through.

They were back on the first floor, if he could just get Tony through the window…

He looked at the man hanging over his shoulder and sighed.

_Okay. This is going to be..._

He gently eased the younger man off his shoulders and leaned him against the wall.

"Alright Tony, plan B."

Tony nodded and titled his head back, smiling wearily.

"Love plan B's boss. They're always...creative. Not as creative as plan C's, but they're pretty good."

Gibbs smashed his elbow into the lock of window until the glass began to shift. Tony flinched away from the noise and rolled his head to the side so he could look down the hall.

"You might want to speed it up a little bit boss. I think they know we went down the stairs. Or at least I'm assuming we went down the stairs, I don't remember much past the top of the staircase."

Gibbs grunted and pulled his shirt over his head, wrapping it around his hand quickly. He pulled his arm back and in one quick sharp move he sent his fist through the old window.

The glass shattered and both Gibbs and Tony winced at the noise.

"That's one way of doing it. Very nice job. I take it we're to go through that?"

Gibbs leaned down and carefully pulled Tony to his feet.

Tony sighed as he looked at the glass.

"This is going to hurt."

Gibbs closed his eyes briefly.

_Yeah it is._

He opened his mouth to apologize when Tony cut him off.

"Gibbs."

He looked at him.

"I know. Now come on. Give me a hand?"

He nodded and gave his friend a boost, all but shoving him out of the window. Tony landed with a pained cry, muffled into the dirt.

Gibbs could hear the men crashing through the double doors.

He grabbed a hold of the windowsill and hauled himself over the edge. He hit the ground and rolled, trying not to hit Tony. He jumped to his feet and pulled Tony up.

"You with me?"

Tony groaned and leaned on Gibbs.

"You know boss, this might just be the worst day off I've ever had."

Gibbs slung his arm over his shoulder and hurried out of the line of sight from the building.

"I've got a close second. Wife once cracked my skull with a nine iron on my weekend off."

Tony raised an eyebrow and bit back a smile.

"Ouch Boss."

Gibbs nodded and pulled Tony through the doors of an empty building.

"Yup. Come on kid. We got to keep moving."

Tony nodded and sighed, his feet shuffling as they hurried along.

They slipped into the building and Gibbs looked around, trying to find something, anything that could get them out of here.

Tony looked around the building, curiosity dancing around the edges of his fuzzy mind.

Gibbs continued pulling, rushing them along, moving them through the warehouse, out the door and into another abandoned property.

"You know I think whoever builds these things puts them so close together for car chase scenes and bad guy headquarters. I wonder if they have their own sort of anti-neighborhood watch program..."

Gibbs looked over at Tony and shook his head, he _really_ needed to get DiNozzo to a hospital. He wasn't even trying to make sense anymore.

"Whatever you say DiNozzo."

"You know something that really sucks boss?"

"What Tony?"

Gibbs looked around the building and grumbled under his breath when no solution presented itself.

"I wasn't working today. Normally when I get myself in this much trouble, I'm at least on the clock. I'm not even getting paid for this sh*t."

Gibbs chuckled at that and pulled Tony through one more room.

"What is that?"

Tony blinked bleary eyes at Gibbs and turned his eyes to the item in question before laughing.

"That my dear Gibbs is a 1953 Chevy truck. And that is our ticket out of here."


	14. Chapter 14

**Whoop! Another chapter down! I am so happy to get another one posted, sorry about the wait! I hope you all enjoy! Please review and tell me what you think!  
****~Renee  
****P.S.- The random thought process that Tony goes through, the one that starts with Tony breathing in and out, is exactly how I think. Just jumping from one thought to another, each thing barely connected and then you reach something that isn't funny in the slightest, but for some odd reason it's really funny to you.  
Anyway, just thought I would share. :) Enjoy. **

Abby stared at the picture in shock before turning to the director.

"NCIS. He was NCIS. _NCIS?!_ One of us did this?"

Abby waved her hand out as if one of the two other NCIS agents in the room had dragged Gibbs and Tony out of the apartment at gunpoint.

The director clenched his jaw and nodded, his eyes narrowed.

"Patrick Wilson. He was fired from the department and was unable to work for any other branch of law enforcement."

Don stepped forward, moving past his agents and brother.

"Why? What happened?"

The director sighed and turned, leaning against Abby's computer desk.

"A murder suspect in his care was found badly beaten after he refused to talk. Someone had attempted to destroy the security footage, but the forensics team was able to bring it back."

Colby and David shared a disgusted glance before Colby spoke up.

"He attacked a suspect?"

The director nodded.

"He was suspended pending an investigation and then disappeared. The suspect was found guilty and never ended up pressing charges, and other than making sure he couldn't work in law enforcement again, he was forgotten about. Most people didn't even know what had happened, it was kept pretty quiet, I'm not even sure if Gibbs was aware. I don't think they ever interacted once. Gibbs wouldn't have ever spoken to him, there shouldn't be any history between them...and he wouldn't even know DiNozzo. He wasn't here yet, he would have no reason to..."

The director closed his eyes and sighed.

"Excuse me."

He walked from the room at a fast pace.

Don watched him go, his mind quickly filling in what the director didn't say. He may have never interacted personally with Gibbs or DiNozzo, but NCIS destroyed his career, and he was holding it's top agents. And that didn't bode well for them.

He shook his head clear of those thoughts and forced himself to focus.

"Well NCIS may have forgotten him, but Wilson certainly didn't forget his time here. So this changes things. Abby, McGee- run everything you have on Patrick Wilson, find any new movement, any properties he or his family may own that could be used to hold Gibbs and DiNozzo."

McGee jumped into a chair and his momentum carried him over to the computers where Abby was already typing away, hope lighting up her face.

"Sinclair, Granger, you're going to keep up on Allen, see if you can find anything more between him and Wilson, maybe now that we have a name things will become clearer. Todd- "

A computer to the side played a cheery tune and Abby's attention turned to it.

"Hey, I've got a hit on one of the goons! A...Lawrence Diaz."

Don nodded and pointed at the computer.

"Perfect. Agent Todd, see what you can find on Mr. Diaz. Charlie you're with me."

Charlie hurried to catch up with his brother who was rushing out of the lab.

"Where are we going?"

"To get you set up, it's time that this game is back on our field."

Xxx

Gibbs hurried to the truck and opened the door, easing Tony into the damaged interior.

"Wait here Tony, I'm going to get us out of here."

Tony nodded and sank into the seat while Gibbs began ripping the truck apart for the keys.

Finally he cursed under his breath and turned to his agent with tortured eyes.

"Nothing DiNozzo, we're going to have to keep moving."

Tony sighed and pushed himself up, wincing as the movement aggravated his battered body.

"That's where you're wrong Gibbs, leave the truck to me, you look around for fuel. There seems to be a little bit of everything around here, maybe you'll find something that'll work."

Gibbs stared at him incredulously.

"Tony, there are no keys, what is gas going to do?"

Tony rolled his eyes and dragged himself over to the drivers side.

A slight moan escaped his lips as he lost his balance and fell towards the seat. Gibbs lurched forward, his arms extended to catch his friend. Tony twisted so he landed on his back and was staring up at Gibbs, and their eyes met. Tony stared at him determinedly.

"Boss, trust me. Go find some fuel."

Gibbs hesitated for a brief second, unwilling to leave Tony alone for a single moment, but finally nodded and helped the younger man sit up.

"Stay."

Tony chuckled.

"Don't see myself going too far Boss, but don't worry, I'll behave."

"Oh I really doubt that DiNozzo, but stay put."

Tony nodded and began studying the Chevy curiously.

Gibbs stepped away from the truck and began searching the large space, looking for anything that could be of use. The space held a big lot of nothing, so he turned to a small hallway that led to a small bunch of rooms. He ended up in a dilapidated office, with wallpaper pealing off the wall and desk with only three legs. A mini refrigerator stood in the corner with the door hanging off the side. He pulled the door the rest of the way open and saw several bottles of water sitting on the shelves among containers of spoiled food. Apparently whoever had been here had left in a hurry and hadn't thought that their take-out was worth coming back for. He pulled out the water and began stuffing them into an old briefcase. His eyes ran over the office again and lit upon the telephone sitting on the desk. He all but jumped onto the phone and jerked up the receiver, praying for a dial tone.

_Please please please._

Nothing.

Line was cut.

Gibbs sighed and closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead before continuing his search. He certainly hoped Tony was having better luck than he was.

…

Gibbs hurried back into the main room, the briefcase full of water under his arm and the small gas containers of diesel clutched in both hands.

"Tony?"

He was answered by the sound of a revving engine.

He broke out into a run and jerked the truck door open.

"Tony?"

He was breathing heavily and leaning his head back against the seats, but when he heard Gibbs open the door, he opened his eyes and smiled at the older man.

"Hey boss, what took you so long?"

Gibbs smiled and set his burdens down.

"Decided to stop for pizza along the way. How did you get the truck running?"

Tony laughed quietly to himself.

"Don't know if I should tell you, you might arrest me for hot-wiring a car. Especially considering that the car is about to be stolen."

Gibbs' eyebrows disappeared into his hairline as he considered that.

_Where on earth did DiNozzo learn how to hot-wire a car?_

Tony heard the unasked question, but ignored it in favor of a more important issue.

"Did you find anything?"

Gibbs nodded and lifted the gas container.

"Some diesel. Looks like it's been here a while, might very well explode when we load it in, but it's all we got."

Tony nodded and began to shift himself over to the other side of the car.

"Good, cause what's left in here isn't going to get us far. And at least if it blows up, it'll be fiery death. Something interesting. Nothing worse than a boring death."

Gibbs rolled his eyes.

"No one's dying right now DiNozzo. We're going home. Now hold on, I'm filling her up, and we're getting the hell out of here."

Tony nodded and settled himself against the door. His body shuddered and he closed his eyes, concentrating on breathing deeply.

_In. Out. In. Out. Simple. Like math. One plus one equals two. Breathing in plus breathing out equals life. Life is good. Life is great. Life means not dying. If I die Gibbs would kill me than fire me and I really don't want to go job hunting again. I like working here. This is the best job ever. I love about it. Except for the color of the walls. Those orange walls got to go. Abby hates them too...I wonder if she would object to breaking in the building with me so we could repaint. I bet everyone would thank us. Make them a nice green or blue. Something soothing or maybe something to spark creativity. What color is supposed to spark creativity? I know not to put blue in the kitchen because that will stifle your appetite and red will make you hungry and...why do I know this? Red. I really don't like that color. Makes me think of blood. I've seen enough blood. No more blood. No red. Never red. I like blue. Blue is a good color. We should paint it blue. I should call Abby and have her help me repaint NCIS blue. Navy blue. Ha! That's pretty good. Naval Criminal Investigative Services, now featuring navy blue walls. Naval Criminal Investigative Services...that sound like a good tv show. I wonder who would play me? Maybe James Franco. Loved him in Spider Man. Spider-man...Spider-man...does whatever a spider can..._

"DiNozzo!"

Tony jerked forward and opened his eyes, looking at Gibbs who was staring at him with a mixture of concern and anger. It sounded like that wasn't the first time his name had been called.

"Yeah Boss?"

"You with me?"

"Of course. Aren't you going to put the gas in?"

Gibbs gave him a curious look.

"I already did Tony. We're-"

Gibbs was cut off by something that sounded like firecrackers and he ducked instinctively, diving towards Tony, shielding him with his own body.

"DiNozzo?"

Tony pained grunt came from underneath him, his words strained.

"Think Patty caught up with us Boss, time to get moving."

Gibbs shifted himself off Tony and popped the truck into gear, the clutch protesting, sending a prayer to the heavens that it would get them out of the building. He looked behind them and saw Lawrence and Steven pushing open the wide door, making an opening large enough for the old truck. The men spotted them immediately and aimed for the back of the vehicle, spouting off shots that ricochetted off the metal and embedded themselves into the truck. They were shouting something in Spanish he couldn't quite catch, but made Tony's lips quirk in a slight smile.

"They aren't very happy with us."

"The feeling's mutual."

Tony smiled over at the man as Gibbs slammed his foot on the accelerator.

"Love a good car chase boss."

Gibbs smiled despite himself and steered the truck directly towards the men.

"Especially when the car is chasing someone else."

Lawrence and Steven both leaped out of the way as the old trucked barreled its way by.

Tony clung to the door as they bounced past and crashed through the open doorway.

"Gibbs, you might want to take it easy. This baby's pretty old, it can't quite handle your normal stuff. We don't know how long it's been sitting in there, or the last time it was actually taken out for a drive. Don't push it too hard."

"Doesn't have to get us too far Tony, just somewhere with a phone. Preferably a hospital."

Tony narrowed his eyes.

"Boss I-"

Gibbs reached out and swatted him on the back of the head.

"Don't start."

"I was just going to say-"

"Don't. Start."

"I-"

"_DiNozzo._"

Tony put his hands up, and winced.

"Okay boss, whatever you say."

Gibbs nodded once.

_That's what I thought._

Tony smiled slightly and began working on twisting around in the seat so he could see out the window.

"What are you doing?"

"Keeping an eye out for our friends boss, would like to know if they're coming up behind us."

Gibbs glanced over at him, Tony's face was pale, sweat was gathering on his forehead and he was blinking every couple seconds as if trying to force his eyes to focus.

"Tony, you need to rest."

Tony shook his head and continued to stare out the window.

"I will boss, promise. Let's just get out of this mess first alright?"

Gibbs sighed and nodded, pressing a little more speed from the truck.

Tony stared out the back window, the road going in and out of focus as his eyes struggled not to close. He was _so_ tired. And everything hurt. He took a deep breath and held it, counting to six before letting it out in a long draw. He repeated the motion over again, forcing himself to focus on the feeling of his own chest rising and falling instead of the pain that got an idea in his toes, traveled up his legs, had a rave in his abdomen and then crawled up his spine to nurse a hangover in his head. He clenched his fists into his ruined shirt and tried desperatly to stay awake. He _had_ to stay awake. His thoughts were already scattered but he wasn't going to pass out. He wasn't going to leave Gibbs alone again. He absolutely refused.

He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rising, and he turned slightly to see Gibbs staring at him. Tony felt a small brush of worry at the fact was staring him down rather than watching the road, but pushed it aside. The day Gibbs got in a traffic accident is the day that Tony couldn't find a movie quote. It simply wouldn't happen. Tony blinked a couple times and looked at Gibbs closer, the man seemed to be waiting on something.

"You say something boss?"

"Yeah Tony, when did you learn to hot-wire a car?"

Tony flinched slightly at the question, then a slight smile danced upon his lips.

"When I was nine."

Gibbs foot came off the accelerator.

"Nine?"

Tony nodded and turned back towards the window.

"How did you learn?"

Tony's smile widened.

"Saw it in a movie, then found a book at the library that taught me how. Did you know that they have books on that? In public libraries? It's like asking people to become criminals. I picked it up pretty quickly. Wasn't very hard."

Gibbs stared at him for a long moment before turning back towards the road, his eyes darting between the long stretch of pavement and his senior field agent.

_Picked it up pretty quickly. Wasn't very hard? He was nine and it wasn't very hard to learn how to hot wire a car? Did he ever..._

"Did you ever use it?"

Tony chuckled.

"I just did."

"Not what I meant."

Tony chewed on his lip.

"I know. Yeah I used it once or twice. Came in handy."

Gibbs carefully didn't look at Tony.

"You don't have a record..."

"There a question in there boss?"

Gibbs opened his mouth to ask, but Tony's hand suddenly shot out, resting on his forearm, and Gibbs was distracted by the faint tremor running through the younger man's grip.

"Boss, we have company."

He looked out the back window and saw the black SUV coming up over the horizon.

"Okay boss, plan C?"

Gibbs nodded.

"Plan C."

"Right."

Tony huddled down farther in the seat while the SUV gained speed.

Gibbs looked around himself and smiled when he the gas station a few blocks down.

"Can you hot wire anything other than old Chevy's?"

Tony looked over at him and smiled.

"We're in a '53 Chevy, running from armed maniacs who want to blow up NCIS and would quite cheerfully kill us if they had the chance and you want to know if I can help you commit grand theft auto? I love you boss."

Gibbs smiled and jerked the truck into the lot, causing it to spin and slam to a halt unceremoniously next to a gas pump.

A short young woman stood next to black mustang, her tousled, shoulder length brown hair was wind blown and her wide green eyes looked at the men curiously as Gibbs burst from the truck and carefully eased Tony from the other side.

They hurried over to her and she took a half step back, her eyes careful.

"Miss, I'm Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs and I'm afraid we're going to have to borrow your car."

"And your cell." Tony piped up from where he was leaning against Gibbs.

The girl opened her mouth as if to argue then took a closer look at Tony. She bit her lip and nodded slowly, passing her keys over and fishing a battered cel phone out of her pocket.

"Anything you want out of the car?"

She nodded and walked around to the back seat of the car, pulled out a backpack that was full of books and the corner of a MacBook sticking out, and a camera bag. She paused before taking a step back and looked at them worriedly.

"Are you alright?"

Tony smiled widely at her, and even with his face battered and bruised, it still dazzled her enough to make her smile back.

"I'm fine Miss, thank you."

Her eyebrows furrowed.

"You don't look alright."

Gibbs chuckled and gave Tony a gentle push towards the passenger side.

"I'm getting him to a hospital now miss. Thank you."

She nodded and smiled slightly, wrapping her arms around herself as they climbed in.

"Are you going to bring my car back in one piece?"

Tony and Gibbs exchanged glances as Gibbs turned the car on and revved the engine.

"More or less."

With that, they drove off, leaving her staring and wondering what just happened.

Tony looked over at Gibbs with laughing eyes.

"Well...that was easy."

**Okay, so the girl with the mustang, I really couldn't resist putting myself in the story. And that is how I would react. If Tony came up to me all beat up and needing my car, more than likely I would just give it to him. Especially if Gibbs was there. Can you imagine saying no to the Gibbs glare? Cause I can't. Besides, it was the perfect opportunity to give myself a Mustang. I've always wanted one. Wouldn't you figure the moment I get one, it's stolen by two Federal Agents?  
****Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!  
****Oh! One last thing, I can totally picture Tony being able to hot-wire car. Don't know if he can, but I can see it. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Dear Beautiful amazing wonderful readers (if any are left after a 3 week wait),  
Would you all forgive the delay if I told you that I hadn't slept in days, don't remember the last time I ate food that I could recognize as coming from nature and I was so tired this morning I walked into my bathroom door? The past three weeks have been really difficult, I got a new job and am trying to adjust to balancing college and the new work schedule and make sure I don't lose track of any friends in the progress. Finding the time to write this chapter was really difficult and I kept hitting roadblocks. But it's here now! Yay! It's not perfect, but it's here. The next will be here as soon as possible and to answer victoriantealady, yes I will reveal how Tony used his hot-wiring skills, but not until a later chapter. It is coming though. :) Hope you all enjoy and aren't too upset with me. Now if you all will excuse me, I'm going to take a nap.  
~Renee**

Tony glanced in the mirror and saw that the SUV was now mere yards behind them. The hilly terrain had given him a chance to see the vehicle before it gained too far on them, but the car switch had cost them dearly.

"Boss, now would be a good time to put that recklessness to good use."

Gibbs didn't bother to glance at him as he swerved around a semi truck and fishtailed onto a side street.

"You calling me a reckless driver DiNozzo? You saying I don't know what I'm doing?"

Tony chuckled softly and began messing with the girl's 'borrowed' cell phone.

"I would never suggest such a thing boss, how could you think that?"

Gibbs smiled but felt the grip of worry tighten at the weakness in Tony's voice.

Tony focused on dialing Kate's number, his fingers shaking as he pressed the familiar digits.

**NO SIGNAL**

He cursed under his breath and dropped the phone into the seat.

"Phone gets no service boss, looks like we're still on our own. You got a plan D hidden in your back pocket?"

Gibbs swerved again, trying to keep some distance between the two cars, not wanting the men to get a good enough angle to use their weapons while on the streets, near innocent bystanders. Though there were not a lot bystanders innocent or not on this side of town. Gibbs looked around, trying to get his bearing, trying to figure out where they were.

"Working on it, isn't it your turn by now?"

Tony began opening the glove compartment and console, searching for anything they could use, anything to inspire a back-up plan for the_ original_ backup plan.

"Can we MacGyver anything with a pack of Winterfresh, what looks to be an three overdue library books and a Regina Spektor cd? Because no great plans are coming to my mind, genius as though it usually may be."

Gibbs frowned and glanced in the review mirror, the SUV had been slowed by Gibbs driving, but they were still close behind.

"Keep an eye on the phone and watch for signal. I'm thinking."

Tony nodded and fought to keep his eyes focused on the bars.

"Right."

Tony looked from the phone back up to the road, something niggling on his subconscious.

"Wait a minute" he murmured, "I know this area."

Gibbs glanced over at him, his eyebrows drawing down.

"You know this area? Why? How?"

"Left!"

"What?"

"Trust me, Left, now!"He yelled pointing.

Gibbs did as he said, jerking the car to the left and the vehicle swerved, nearly clipping another car. The SUV went flying by, missing the street. They could see the brake lights shining as they screeched to a stop, desperatly trying to turn around and catch back up to the fleeing agents. He looked worriedly towards his agent who was smiling in surprise and looking around as if trying to remember something really important.

"Tony, are you... you know where we are? How?"

"Friend went to a... midnight downtown rave and...locked her keys... out of her car and needed me to come and get her, we ended... up driving around this area of town for... Hours, completely lost."

Gibbs stared at him incredulously.

"How do you do those kind of things to yourself?"

Tony shrugged and winced. "What can I say, I have...classy friends. Okay, boss now what?"

He stared in the rearview mirror, and felt a rush of relief to see that the men were no longer breathing down their necks. Tony's know-how had bought them some time. Why was that not surprising?

"Hospital."

"No."

Gibbs turned and glared at him but before he could say anything Tony cut him off.

"Boss if they catch up to us, and you know they will, do you really want to lead them a building full of sick and injured people to use as hostages?"

Gibbs cursed under his breath but didn't argue. He wasn't even thinking straight at this point. His mind was consumed with the pale, shaking form of his senior field agent, bruised and bloody and barely conscious at this point, but still arguing.

"Fine. No hospital. For now. You have a better idea?"

Tony glanced down at the phone and then grinned, finally seeing the bars popping up.

"We box them in."

Gibbs raised his eyebrows and then smiled, nodding. Tony began to dial, his fingers quivering so badly they could barely find the proper keys. He held the phone to his ear and took a deep breath as it rang.

_"Todd."_

"Kate, it's Tony, I need you track this phone and send some cars to our location, we've got our bad guys close behind us, we're gonna try and cut them off."

There was a moment of stunned silence on the line before Kate began speaking so fast that he could only catch every other word.

"Kate? I can't hear you, you keep cutting out. I'll explain everything later, just get some back-up to us! Did you hear me?"

_"I...on our way! Are...Okay?"_

He glanced over at Gibbs before pasting on a bright smile.

"We're fine."

Gibbs growled at him and Tony sighed and relented.

"Gibbs seems to have this idea about a hospital, but it can wait. Just hurry."

With that the phone slipped out of his fingers and landed on the floor mat. He stared down at it with a curious expression but didn't bend over to get it.

"DiNozzo?"

"Fine boss, just think if I go to pick that up, I won't be bouncing back up too quickly."

Gibbs tightened his grip on the steering wheel but didn't say anything, rage and worry closing his throat.

Tony glanced in the mirror.

"They're back boss. You ready?"

Gibbs nodded.

Xxx

Kate, McGee, Don, David and Colby all ran towards their vehicles.

"David and Colby and McGee follow Kate and I, Gibbs and DiNozzo have the suspects pursuing them, we're going to head them off and block them in."

The men nodded and jumped in their SUV while Kate and Don piled in the long black car.

"Abby you still have a location for us?"

_"It should be loading up on your GPS now."_

Kate nodded when she saw the machine light up with the new information.

"Thanks, I'll call you as soon as I know something."

_"Take care of them."_

"I promise."

Kate snapped her phone shut as Don shot the car out of the drive, following the directions being given.

"We should be there in under five minutes if cut through here." He pointed to a back road and gestured along an unfamiliar path. "They're out in the middle of the warehouse district, but thankfully the way this city is built, we should be there soon."

Kate nodded and gripped her door with white hands.

"Good. Tony didn't sound good and if Gibbs is insisting on a hospital… we need to hurry."

Xxx

Tony glanced behind them again, his hands holding onto the seatbelt so tightly his knuckles were white.

"I see the cars boss, back-up is here."

Gibbs nodded and looked over at Tony, judging if he was ready for this.

"You think the girl will forgive us if we destroy her car?"

Tony smiled and nodded and Gibbs accepted the answer to his unasked question.

It was now or never.

Gibbs turned the car into an empty parking lot in an abrupt move and swung the car around so that it was facing Patrick and slammed on the brakes, forcing them to stop or have a head on collision. The SUV stopped only feet away from Gibbs and Tony and the agents looked through the glass and saw hatred and violence on the men's faces as they began to scramble and draw their weapons. Patrick held a gun and preparing to fire through the glass but suddenly two more cars pulled in, and NCIS and FBI agents leaped out of their vehicles and pulled their weapons.

There was a brief moment of silence and then Don braced himself and shouted.

"Patrick Wilson, drop your weapons and exit the vehicle."

Tony stared into Patrick's eyes through the two windshields and saw him make his decision and his arm shifted. Tony's eyes widened and he shouted-

"Gibbs!"

…

The world stopped moving around Gibbs and three things happened at once.

1. Tony screamed his name.

2. The windshield exploded

3. Tony hit him from the side with a strength he didn't know he still had

Gibbs slammed into the side of the car, propelled by Tony's body weight which was moving from desperation and adrenaline alone.

Suddenly there was noise everywhere, the sound of guns going off from every direction. He shoved Tony back towards the passenger side and flattened him down, flinging himself over his agent.

After a brief moment, there was silence and a call of all clear. He could hear the other agents calling out his and DiNozzo's name but he disregarded answering in favor of moving off of Tony.

"Looks like we missed the fun stuff DiNozzo."

Silence.

"DiNozzo? Tony?"

Fear clutched him as he began to gently turn his agent to the side to see his face.

Blood.

There was blood everywhere.

"Tony!"

He clutched the man to his chest and felt his heart stop in his chest.

No.

Not now.

Not when they were finally getting out of this.

"Gibbs?"

Kate was sticking her head in the window.

"Ambulance!" He shouted, putting pressure on Tony's chest.

She looked at Tony and blanched.

"They're still ten minutes away."

Gibbs looked at the blood pouring from the bullet hole and jerked the car into reverse.

"He doesn't have ten minutes."

Kate shouted at Don who understood immediately and jumped back into the SUV as she hurried into the Mustang. He tore after Gibbs who was already out of the parking lot in the stolen car. He cursed under his breath as he sped up, staying close as possible with the siren and lights warning people to stay out of their way and sending a signal to other cops that he had things under control.

Letting them be pulled over would not be helpful right now.

Gibbs looked down at Tony who was still laying across his legs.

"You're going to be okay, do you hear me? You're going to be just fine. You do anything less and I'll kick your *ss from here to hell and back. You're going to be fine."

Kate turned Tony so she could have a better reach at his chest and put pressure on the wound while Gibbs tried hopelessly to focus on the road and not on the desperate actions taking place on his senior agent unconscious on his lap.

"Gibbs it was a small caliber high on the right side of the chest. Missed his heart but he's losing blood fast. He's already in a weakened state and if we don't get there soon he's not going to make it."

Gibbs pushed the accelerator down farther, making it meet the floor and didn't reply.

Kate bit her lip and pushed hard against Tony's chest, blinking back the tears that were threatening to stream down her face.

"What happened? DiNozzo, what happened? How do these things happen to you?"

Gibbs stared out the shattered windshield, cracks upon cracks from the bullet that pierced the glass.

"It wasn't supposed to. He was aiming for me. DiNozzo...Tony pushed me out of the way, he..."

Gibbs swallowed and stopped talking. He didn't mean to start talking in the first place, the words had just started coming.

Kate stared at him in shock, almost taking her hands off of Tony before she snapped back into action.

"He took the bullet for you?" She questioned softly, in surprise.

Gibbs narrowed his eyes in anger, trying to keep his voice in control.

"Is that really so hard to believe?"

She opened and closed her mouth a couple times before finally lowering head and focusing back on Tony.

Gibbs stared forward and spoke out the broken windshield but Kate felt the words like they were shouted in her face.

"You don't give him enough credit. For being so smart Agent Todd, you can be so d*mn stupid."

She dipped her head in shame and they finished the drive in quiet, the silence only broken by Tony's labored breathing.

Finally after an eternity of driving they pulled into the ER of Bethesda and Kate jumped from the car and disappeared into the building to find some help. Don pulled in behind them and ran to the Mustang, pulling open the door to help Gibbs with Tony. Gibbs eased himself and his agent from the seat and ran into the ER clutching Tony to himself, meeting a mess of doctors and nurses and a gurney.

People were shouting and pulling and Tony disappeared from his arms and onto a gurney where he vanished into the doors of the hospital.

"Tony!" he tried to follow but nurses pushed him back and he felt strong arms pulling him towards the rows of seats.

"Agent Gibbs, Agent Gibbs!"

He swung his arm out and knocked the unfamiliar man off of him.

"Get off of me!"

The weight was back on his shoulder and pulling him again, a voice shouting in his ear.

"Agent DiNozzo is in good hands, Tony will be fine!"

Gibbs whirled on the man and stared. It was the man who had helped him get Tony out of the car, and he stared back and gently pulled him to the chairs.

"Agent Gibbs, you need to let them do their jobs. You will be able to see Tony as soon as they're done. For now you need to be checked out yourself."

Gibbs pulled his arm away but remained sitting.

"I'm fine. I don't need-"

Kate stepped up and touched his shoulder gently.

"Gibbs, you have a giant bruise going all the way down the side of your face, it needs to be looked at, made sure you don't have a concussion."

Gibbs glared at her.

"Tony already checked. I have no double vision, no dizziness and no nausea. I'm _fine._"

"How about you let someone with a medical degree be the judge of that."

Gibbs looked up to see Ducky walking towards him and he jumped to his feet, but his knees weakened and he had to grab ahold of the chair to steady himself.

"Duck I'm fine. They took Tony, will you find out what's happening?"

Ducky shook his head.

"There is nothing I can do for Anthony right now, but let me at least look at you. Tony will be quite put out with us all when he wakes up if he finds that you let a head injury go untreated."

Gibbs rolled his eyes and crossed his arms but let Ducky examine him, knowing that there was nothing left to do but wait. While Ducky was poking and prodding he looked past him to Kate.

"McGee have a handle on the scene? Who's with him?"

Kate winced at the thought of the probationary agent alone at the crime scene but relaxed when Don spoke up.

"My team is with him agent Gibbs. Sinclair and Granger are two of the best and they will help keep the scene secure."

Gibbs regarded him evenly.

"And you are?"

"Agent Don Eppes, FBI. My team and I were sent out to help on your case."

Gibbs nodded and looked back towards Ducky.

"What's your verdict Duck?"

The older man tutted to himself and nodded.

"No concussion Jethro, just some pretty good bruising. I would warn you to take it easy and not overdo it for a couple days to be on the safe side but considering what you have already done today… You are a very lucky man Gibbs."

He shook his head and stood, walking towards the nurse station to see if they could tell him what was happening to his agent.

"Not lucky Duck, just got a hard head."

...

"I swear Jethro if you do not sit down I will have agents Sinclair and Granger hold you down and I will sit on you to hold you still!"

Gibbs swiveled and glared at the doctor while the two agents stared at each other with shell shocked expressions. The carefully stepped backwards until they were partially behind Don who was on his cell by the window.

"Charlie, that doesn't make any sense… I know but how… She said what?… and you… Okay, okay yes of course. No, yeah I suppose… He had to get the information from somewhere… and Abby is sure… Okay. I'll talk to them. Thanks."

He shut his phone and looked at his agents who were looking at him innocently.

"Are...are you two hiding?"

The looked at each other and then back to the agent who was arguing with the doctor.

"Yes." They spoke together.

Don looked over at the NCIS agents who were gathered about ten feet away ands sighed.

"You're going to need to find a better spot."

He took a deep breath and stepped towards the agents. Kate smiled wearily at him while McGee just looked at him with the same perpetually worried look he had been wearing since he had gotten there three hours ago.

"Agent Gibbs?"

He turned away from Ducky and glared at his new target.

"Eppes?" He growled.

"I just got off the phone with my brother-"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow and Don belatedly realized that he had never explained Charlie to the agent.

"My brother Charlie is a consultant for our FBI team. He's a mathematician and has helped us close dozens of cases, he was helping us on your case."

Gibbs nodded and waited for Don to get to the point.

"He was working with Abby and helping her look at the evidence and they… they think that..."

"Spit it out Eppes."

Don straightened and looked Gibbs in the eye even as he hated saying what he had to.

"Abby and Charlie think that NCIS has a mole that was feeding Patrick Wilson information on NCIS."

"No way!"

Everyone looked to Kate who blushed at her outburst but McGee was shaking his head, obviously agreeing with her.

"No! There is no possible way we have a mole, right boss? Tell him Gibbs!"

Gibbs looked at Don thoughtfully.

"He knew things about my team, about DiNozzo and I that he shouldn't have know. That he couldn't have known. He had blueprints. I couldn't figure out how he had the information. It never made sense. If someone was feeding him information..."

Don nodded and watched as Gibbs' face turned stormy, angry, dangerous. Frightening.

"Agent Todd, your cell."

She handed it over without a word.

He flipped it open and dialed a number he never used and held it up to his ear, listening to the shrill ring.

_"Director Morrow."_

"It's Gibbs. We have a problem."


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey! Look! Hey, hey reader look! It's a chapter uploaded! In only a weeks worth of time! I am having a very important moment here and I am about to tell you all why. This week I was so busy I had to make an hourly schedule to make sure I had enough time to get everything done, (I think all my professors are plotting against me) I was so busy that one day I realized that I had forgotten to schedule in time for meals. I don't understand why some fast food places close so early. When the only meal you have is at three in the morning, I need more than Taco Bell drive through. I don't even like Taco Bell. That's not the point of this A/N. The point is, I have been so busy that I have had to write in time to even find food, but I dedicated today to this chapter. I crammed all week and rewarded myself with an update! Not a lot happens here, just getting us from one point to another. We're going to have a few chapters of PapaGibbs looking out for Tony after this, and I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, I promise!  
****Enjoy!  
****~Renee**

Gibbs was staring out the window, watching the sun set over the D.C. Skyline. He could hear the murmur of the backdrop of the hospital behind him, but he didn't turn, frozen in his own corner of silence, guilt, worry and rage. He knew that the NCIS agents were talking about the possible mole, who it could be and what the motive was, and the director was discussing things with SecNav but right now they were stuck. He sighed and leaned his head against the cool glass. One problem solved and only a dozen left to go. Tony would be a big help here. He was good at picking up thread and connecting in ways that made sense to no one but himself, but always managing to make them work in the end. But of course, they needed Tony for him to work any of us magic and right now he was still somewhere inside the hidden halls of the hospital.

"Gibbs?"

The shaky word did little to pull him out of his introspection, it was the wrong voice. Not the one he wanted to hear. Not the one that he was waiting for.

_Stop whining and answer her. I'm going to be seriously ticked if I wake up and find out she's been crying and you haven't done anything about it cause you're too busy feeling guilty and worried. She's worried too. _

Gibbs winced and sighed, turning slightly and lifting his arm, giving Abby the invitation she needed to come and find a hug, gripping his shirt so tight he could feel her nails through his borrowed scrubs. She began to chatter something in her tear strained voice but he didn't hear her, he was still caught up in figuring out when DiNozzo took over his conscience.

_About the time you realized why I tackled you in the car._

**_Huh. When did I start replying to you?_**

_I believe it was when Ducky went back to find out what was going on and didn't come back. _

**_Right._**

_If it makes you feel better, you're really answering yourself. I'm not actually here. You're just...what would Duckman call it? Substituting guilt or something, I don't know. I pay as much attention to the psychoanalyzing as you do. So you're not completely nuts yet, only partially._

**_Shut up DiNozzo._**

_Yes boss._

"Gibbs? Did you hear me?"

"What Abby?"

She sniffled.

"Have you heard anything from Ducky? Do we have any news?"

He shook his head.

"No."

She sighed and burrowed her head into his shoulder.

"He'll be fine. Because everything is always fine when Tony is involved. Tony can handle everything. He is superman. No he's better than superman, he's like a mini-Gibb's. He'll be fine."

Gibbs patted her shoulder and smiled quietly. Tony as a mini-Gibbs. He wasn't sure how the younger man would respond to that, he was pretty determined on staying his own person.

_That's right I am. I don't need to be a mini-Gibbs when I'm already a fully grown DiNozzo. Maybe you're a mini-DiNozzo and no one realized that until now!_

_**I don't think so DiNozzo. Didn't I tell you to shut up?**  
_

_Like I ever listen. _

"Special Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs turned quickly and Abby slipped out of his arms.

"That's me, you have news on Agent DiNozzo?"

He nodded and waved his arm towards the doors.

"yes, come with me please?"

Gibbs nodded and followed the man towards the blocked off hallway, his other agents hot on his heels. The doctor stopped them at the double doors.

"Agent Gibbs only please."

They stopped and stared at him in surprise and watched as Gibbs disappeared.

McGee turned to Kate and threw his hands up in the air.

"Why is Gibbs the only one who ever gets to go back and see Tony? Every time he gets hurt, it's always Gibbs and only Gibbs. Why?"

Kate shrugged and glared at the closed doors as if they would open by her stare alone.

Abby rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her and looked at them in shock.

"If you haven't figured it out by now..."

She turned and stalked away, suddenly irrationally angry at the two unknowing agents. Kate looked at McGee and he raised his hands in confusion.

"What is she talking about?"

Xxx

Gibbs was standing outside of a private room, his hands clenched into fists. The doctor heaved a gentle sigh and began flipping though his chart.

"Alright, Agent DiNozzo is out of the woods but we're keeping him in the ICU for now and restricting his visitors. I was told by a… uh...Doctor Mallard, that you staying regardless of visiter policy would be more helpful towards healing than detrimental."

Gibbs smirked and nodded.

"How is he?"

The doctor nodded briefly and flipped the pages back, holding the clip board to his chest.

"Agent DiNozzo has two cracked ribs on the left side, and one that is broken completely on the right. Not to mention some pretty heavy bruising over his entire torso. There is also a bruised windpipe that we were rather worried about, but it should be fine. Now on to the more serious. There was a gunshot wound to his left side and another high on the right side of the chest. The shot to the side is inflamed and is already showing signs of infection. We're putting him on antibiotics now and hoping it will clear up soon. There were several blows to the head, but no concussion, we are going to watch him closely though. There are dozens of lacerations and bruises but nothing serious on that front. There is some rather serious blood loss so we're keeping him on an IV. Other than that… he's all clear."

_Other than that?_

Gibbs swallowed and looked towards the closed door.

"We've set up a cot for you if you decide to stay the night. Feel free to join him at any time, the nurses have been informed of your presence."

Gibbs opened the door and immediately forgot about the doctor, his mind focused intently on his injured agent.

He pushed the door shut gently behind him and walked into the darkened room.

The sound of quiet even breathing was the only noise in the room as he settled into the chair placed next to the bed.

He felt a rush of relief seeing Tony. The younger man was bruised and looked a little worse for the wear but was more or less in one piece.

He reached a hand out and brushed a stray piece of hair out of Tony's face.

The younger man stirred and mumbled something under his breath. Gibbs drew his eyebrows together and ran his finger gently over his forehead soothing the lines marring the smooth plain.

"Shh...you're okay. You're safe."

Tony muttered something and opened his eyes before slamming them back shut against the glare of the faint light.

"B-boss?"

It was slurred and stuttered but Gibbs smiled at the instant question. Before he even knew where he was or what was going on, he was immediately asking for his boss, knowing he would be by his side.

Priorities.

"Right here Tony. I've got your six."

"Waz gowin on?"

"Hospital Tony."

"Ugh."

Tony lifted an arm in an attempt to throw it over his face but the IV hindered his movement. He glared at the irritating wires before dropping the arm back down and staring at the ceiling.

Tony sighed and titled his head, studying the ceiling as if it held the mysteries of the universe.

Suddenly, without warning, he shot up in the bed, wires pulling and his face paling with pain and worry.

"Gibbs!"

Gibbs jumped to his feet and put his hand on Tony's shoulder.

"DiNozzo? I'm right here, you're okay."

He shook his head, his eyes blurry as he stared at the older man.

"Patrick shot….are you...did he..."

Gibbs relaxed as he realized what Tony was asking and felt a warm feeling inside at his worry even in a drugged up state.

"I'm fine Tony. You saved me. I'm fine. And so are you. You ever do something like that again and I'll kill you myself, but for now you're fine."

Tony nodded and looked a little less worried but concern was still the main feature on his face.

"Greg? Maggie?"

"Both fine. You saved them too."

Tony smiled and started to relax back on bed.

"Oh. Okay. Good. Everybody's okay?"

Gibbs nodded. "Everyone's fine."

Tony leaned back on the pillows. Gibbs calmed and watched DiNozzo settle back down. Then Tony looked at him again but this time with suspicion in his eyes.

"I don't have any flowers again do I?"

Gibbs growled and barely kept his temper as he grumbled out a no. Tony looked relieved and closed his eyes, submitting to the irresistible pull of sleep.

"Thanks Boss."

"Anytime DiNozzo."

Gibbs watched at Tony fell back asleep. He remembered when the flowers had shown up, back when Kate got in her head that his family should be notified. He had seen his agent light up in delight and confusion when he saw the bright bouquet and then he had watched as the delight faded into a dull horror and then finally and stiff mask that was pulled up so quickly that if he would have blinked he would have missed the entire process. His agent had then turned to him and with a confused and almost hurt tone and asked if it was some kind of joke. Gibbs had snatched the card from his hand, seen the message and crushed the card, sending both the flowers and the words out of the room, never to be mentioned or brought up again.

He had been tempted to fire Kate then and there, but Tony had told him he was overreacting. He knew he was, but it was hard not to when Tony was involved.

There was just something about him.

Something that needed to be watched out for.

Definitely watched out for.

He could still remember the first time Tony got injured on his watch, and the fiasco that followed…

_~fb~_

_Gibbs' heart was pounding as he ran after where Tony and their suspect had disappeared to. He could hear gunshots and the screech of traffic as he pushed himself farther. Back-up was minutes away and in a situation like this, minutes meant life or death. _

_He came to a turn in the alley and froze, he had no idea which way the two men had gone. _

_"DiNozzo?!" he yelled and held his breath, hoping for a response of any kind._

_Another gunshot answered him followed by a cry of pain. _

_"Tony!" he yelled and sprinted towards the sounds. _

_He turned the corner and saw the suspect and Tony caught in a fight, blood pouring from the man's arm and Tony's gun laying on the alley floor. Tony winced as he was slammed once again into the wall before Gibbs grabbed the man and threw him off of him. He slammed the man into the ground and handcuffed him._

_"You alright DiNozzo?"_

_Tony chuckled softly but the sound was strained. _

_"Been better boss."_

_Gibbs looked over at him and paled when he saw the blood soaking the lower right side of his shirt._

_"Tony..." he stood and hurried over to his agent, leaving the suspect writhing in pain on the ground._

_"Not a fan of knives boss."_

_Gibbs kept pressure on the wound as Tony slid down the wall._

_"I don't think they like you very much either."_

_Tony laughed and then gasped in pain. Gibbs could hear the sound of the back-up finally showing up, along with the ambulance they had called for the original unharmed hostages. In a whirl of movement the suspect was in the back being escorted back to NCIS and Tony was bundled in the bus with Gibbs close behind. _

_Before he could realize what was happening they were at the hospital and Tony had disappeared. He had sat and waited for nearly an hour before a doctor had reappeared and said that emergency surgery was needed to repair a knick in his colon. _

_"Of course, do what you have to." _

_"Well that's the thing Agent Gibbs, we need permission from his next of kin..."_

_Gibbs immediately went to his cell phone and called Abby. _

_"Get down here with Tony's next of Kin information, now!" _

_She arrived less than fifteen minutes later clutching papers and looking for Gibbs with fear shining plainly in her eyes._

_"We have a problem!"_

_She leaned in and whispered in his ear and watched as his face drained of color._

_"What the hell do you mean he has no next of kin listed?" he hissed leaning so he was inches away from Abby. _

_She waved the papers at his face, looking at him in desperation as tears slipped down her face leaving mascara tracks._

_"That's it boss, he left the slot blank! There's no one there! Do they have to have permission before they do the surgery?"_

_Gibbs glared at her before snatching the papers away, looking through them as if it was possible for her to be mistaken. _

_"D*mn it DiNozzo. Okay, come on."_

_She hurried after him as Gibbs slipped into a private waiting room._

_"What are we doing?"_

_"Making sure DiNozzo has a chance to get his *ss kicked for this."_

_He puled out a pen and with a flourish began filling in the empty spaces._

_Abby watched and smiled, finally feeling her spirits lift._

_…_

_Gibbs sat by his bedside and stared, waiting for him to wake up. He was rewarded a few minutes later when tired green eyes slitted and stared at him._

_"Boss? What the hell happened?"_

_"Ticked off a man with a very large knife."_

_Tony pondered that over and then nodded._

_"Okay, I'll buy that. So Hospital. What are you doing here?"_

_Gibbs didn't answer but placed a sheaf of papers on the bed next to the man._

_Tony blinked and picked them up._

_His eyebrows rose as he read the top page. _

_"You know, forging a very special agent's signature is a federal offense."_

_"You planning on turning me in?"_

_Tony smiled at him as he read further down the papers, stopping in surprise when he saw next of kin instead of medical proxy circled._

_He looked at Gibbs with a question in his eyes._

_Gibbs stared him straight in the eyes and made sure his agent was listening._

_"Not all family is blood Tony. I've got your six."_

_~fb~_

The younger man had landed himself in the ER over a dozen times since then and every time he had woken up to find Gibbs sitting next to him. Tony had never changed the form and Gibbs had never asked why it was empty. He knew Tony had been disowned at the age of twelve but he never asked how or why it happened. As far as he was concerned, his agent would tell him when it became necessary.

At the moment they were fine just as they were.

Tony shifted on the bed, mumbling something in his sleep and Gibbs scooted his chair closer, ready to continue is vigil through the night. There would be no nightmares on his watch.

Tony stirred again but stilled when Gibbs rested his hand on his arm.

He knew, even in unconsciousness, that Gibbs would keep him safe.

Because there are somethings you just know.


	17. Chapter 17

**Muhahahahahaha! Another chapter! Yes *Happy Dance*  
So I wrote this chapter instead of studying for my poetry test so I guess we'll see how that turns out. Who needs a test on poetry anyway? Poetry is built on feelings, emotions, on how you see the world and how you want others to stop and take some time out of their day to just _look. _ Poetry is about love and hate and sorrow and joy and dancing and crying and discovering and laughing and just_ living_. It's not something you should be tested over. I don't think I need to understand iambic pentameter to understand that a poem is well written or gets its point across. Somehow I don't think my poetry teacher is going to buy that argument though.  
****Anyway, sorry about the moment up there. I love poetry. So here is chapter 17. It was another in-between chapter, getting the pieces set up for the next stage of the story. Hope you all enjoy.  
Please tell me what you think! I love hearing everyone's thoughts, love it, hate it, favorite movie, whatever works.  
Hope you're having a great one!  
****Renee**

"Right here Gibbs, he walked right into the building wearing a visitors badge!" Abby pointed to the screen with a black nail and glared, hatred full across her face. "He just...walked in! And no one stopped him, no one had any idea of what he was planning, or what he was doing!"

Gibbs put a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed, his own eyes narrowing as he looked at Patrick Wilson walking through the bullpen of NCIS.

"There was no way for him to know Abs. His old team was no longer together, the only one who would have recognized him was the director and they never ran into each other. Do we have footage on everywhere he went?"

She nodded and began to fast forward.

"Yeah, he was escorted over to Pacci's team and then he leaves with two different agents… a Chamberlain and a Cass. They head outside and I lose them. Sorry boss. It was almost four years ago and Pacci wasn't even in when he showed up, so it's not his fault he didn't recognize him when the sketch was being passed around."

Gibbs nodded, his eyes focused on the two men walking closely with the man who had nearly killed his senior agent.

"Four years ago...how did you get this footage? How did you find him?"

Abby's eyes sparkled as she turned to Gibbs and began to wave her arms in the air as she spoke.

"The LA office heard about what happened and Callen had Eric send me some software, this stuff is incredible Gibbs! I just feed it information and it-"

Gibbs put a hand up.

"Whatever you say Abby, I believe you. How did Callen find out?"

Abby shrugged.

"It's G. He finds out everything. He's going to grow up to be you."

He chuckled and kissed her on the top of her head and pointed to the screen.

"Cass and Chamberlain, we have whereabouts?"

"Both still active agents on Pacci's team, but Chamberlain didn't come into work today. Called in sick."

Gibbs nodded, not taking his eyes off Patrick's face, captured on the screen.

"Right. Thanks Abs."

"Ain't no thing bossman. Go get them!"

Gibbs smirked but left the room focused, his thoughts intent on one purpose.

That is, they were until his phone rang.

"Gibbs."

_"Boss, it's um...McGee...we have a problem."_

"You're supposed to be at the hospital with DiNozzo, what kind of problem is it?"

Gibbs felt his heart lurch slightly, had something happened to the younger man? He had only been gone a few hours and Tony had been in the hospital all of three days, what could have happened?

_"Well boss, according to the doctor...um...Tony...he-"_

"Spit it out McGee!"

_"He checked himself out AMA."_

Gibbs froze in the hallway, the phone clutched to his ear.

"He what?!"

Xxx

Tony gasped as he stood at the base of his apartment steps.

Maybe this wasn't the best of plans. When he checked himself out he was thinking about soft sheets and a hot shower and pizza with extra cheese.

He was not considering flights of stairs.

He chuckled to himself as he looked over the elevator with its proud Out Of Order sign. Of all the times for this building to start acting like his old one…

He shook his head and sighed, it was now or never.

Taking a deep breath, which caused a pained wince, Tony began to climb the stairs, stopping every couple steps to catch his breath and reconsider his life plan.

Halfway up the flight below his floor he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, letting himself check out for a minute.

"Anthony?"

He opened one eye and smiled.

"Hey Mrs. Stine. How are you this morning?"

The elderly woman put her hands on her hips and frowned at him worriedly.

"Better than you look. What's wrong my dear?"

He beamed at her and worked on not letting any of his tiredness show in his eyes.

"I always look well when I'm near death." He muttered to himself, smiling softly.

Her eyes widened and her hands flew to her mouth.

"Death?!"

Tony rolled his eyes at himself and his smile widened.

"Sorry Mrs. Stine. It's a quote, _Camille _1936. Just some interesting times at work. I'm just fine."

She rubbed her hands together worriedly and studied him closely.

"Hmmm...you look like you need something to eat."

Tony laughed quietly at her proclamation. The widow thought all problems could be solved by a good meal. It's one of the reason they got along so well.

"Food sounds fantastic Mrs. Stine. But I'm not moving all the fast right now. Could I treat you to dinner later?"

She pulled a newspaper out of her large bag swatted him on the head with it.

"Don't be ridiculous. You sit right there and I'll bring you down something."

"Mrs. Stine, I can't just stay on the stairs!"

"Nonsense! With everything you do for this building, you're earned that spot! If anyone has a problem with it they can take it up with me Anthony, you just watch!"

Tony laughed again and then wrapped his arm around his aching torso. He may be pushing it leaving the hospital so early, but it was worth it. He couldn't stay there any longer. He just couldn't.

"Well I'm not going to argue with you Mrs. Stine."

She smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Please dear, you really must call me Patty."

…

Gibbs slammed his car door shut and stormed to the apartment building.

When he found his senior agent he was going to make sure he was okay, then kill him, then send his *ss right back to the hospital.

"I swear DiNozzo when I get a hold of you..." he grumbled to himself as he yanked open the door and stomped up the stairs.

"You had better be here."

He was halfway up the last flight when he heard two people laughing softly and his jaw dropped when he saw Tony sitting on the steps, leaning agains the wall, a china plate covered in cookies on his lap and a glass of milk in his hand. There was an older african american woman sitting next to him, her grey hair in pin curls and her flowered dress pulled up to her knees as she sat on next to him, pointing to a snicker-doodle and saying something about calcium.

"DiNozzo?"

Tony looked up and paled slightly at the sight of his enraged, and now very confused, boss.

"Oh, um...hey Gibbs."

"What the hell are you doing?"

The old woman frowned and stood placing herself between the injured agents and the angry man staring him down. Tony looked between the two forces and took a bite of a cookie, curious on how this was going to turn out.

"Excuse me, but I think you should apologize! I don't know who you think you are but you have no right to speak to this young man like that! Our Anthony is a hero, I don't know what he has done to get himself so banged up, but you can believe it was heroic and if you continue to badger him or speak to him in such a way I am going to call the police and have you escorted from this building!"

Tony snorted and choked on his cookie, laughing at the expression on Gibbs' face. The older man stood staring at the woman, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open. He looked past the woman to his agent.

"What have you told this poor woman?"

Tony opened his mouth to reply but Patty cut him off.

"He's told me nothing! He never tells me what he does at work when he's out there risking his life for us all. I just know! And I also know that if you don't leave him alone, I am going to make things very difficult for you!"

Gibbs put up his hands in a placating measure while Tony's face turned red in his effort to keep from busting up laughing.

"DiNozzo, please tell this...nice young woman...that I am not here to cause you any trouble."

Tony turned his head to the side and studied him with sparkling eyes.

"I don't know Gibbs, why are you here? It can't be to yell at me for leaving too early now can it?"

"DiNozzo..." he growled, low and dangerous. Patty narrowed her eyes and took a step closer to Gibbs but Tony sighed and spoke up before she could do anything else.

"It's alright Mrs. Stine. This is my boss, Leroy Jethro Gibbs. He's just here to make sure I'm okay."

The woman looked at him with new appreciation.

"You're _that_ Agent Gibbs? Oh! Well that's different. Anthony's told me about his boss, but you aren't quite what I pictured. This is nice, I'm so glad to finally meet you! I'm Patricia Stine, Anthony's neighbor."

Gibbs gave Tony a look that said he would be ribbing him for this later, he smiled at the woman.

"It's very nice to meet you M'am."

She smiled at him and took the plate of cookies off Tony's lap.

"Likewise I'm sure! Here, have a cookie!"

"Thank you M'am."

She waved her hand at him and snorted.

"Oh please, none of that M'am business, I bet you don't like it when people run around calling you sir. Call me Patty."

Gibbs chuckled and nodded.

"I would be glad to."

She looked satisfied then turned her attention back to Tony and tutted at him, moving his hair around.

"I'm telling Anthony, you don't look well. Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

Gibbs answered for him.

"Actually, _Anthony_ left the hospital about a week early against the advice of his doctor..."

She gasped and sank down to her knees next to the young man.

"Hospital!? Oh dear, what happened?"

Tony shook his head and glared at Gibbs.

"It's alright Mrs. Stine, I'm okay. Really just a little banged up," he paused ignoring Gibbs' snort "Everything will be fine, I promise. We got it all worked out." Gibbs face darkened at that, and Tony looked at him with concern.

He lifted an eyebrow, a question clear.

_We did get it all worked out, didn't we?_

Gibbs titled his head ever so slightly.

_We need to talk._

Tony blinked a couple times.

_We have a problem?_

Gibbs half smiled.

_This isn't over._

Tony leaned back and turned his smile to his neighbor who had missed the entire exchange.

"Thank you so much for the company Mrs. Stine, and the cookies, they were fantastic! But I better get back to work, it's never good when the boss has to come hunt me down."

He winked at her and she blushed, standing.

"Thank you Anthony, I had a very nice time."

Tony laughed quietly.

"How many times do I have to ask you to call me Tony?"

"As soon as you start calling me Patty. Enjoy the rest of the cookies and I hope you feel better soon."

He nodded and promised to return the plate soon, and watched her quietly until she disappeared up the steps. When he was sure she was out of earshot, he turned to Gibbs and smiled.

"Don't suppose you could give me a hand up?"

Gibbs crossed his arms and glared.

"I don't know, I kinda like the idea of you being stuck down there while I yell at you for _being so d*mn stupid!_ Are you out of your mind? You can't just leave the hospital! You're hurt! You can't even make up the d*mn steps, you think maybe that's a sign you should be in bed DiNozzo?"

Tony pouted slightly as he stared back up at him.

"Technically I was on my was to bed-"

Gibbs put up a hand.

"Stop, I don't want to hear it."

He reached down and gently pulled his agent to his feet, careful not to let his anger bleed through to his actions.

"Let's go."

He turned around and started down the steps.

"I'm not going back to the hospital Gibbs."

He shook his head, ignoring Tony's weak struggles to get away. He knew after taking one look at Tony he was going to have to reevaluate his plan, taking him to hospital was not going to fly. Oh well, plan B was preferable anyway.

"No you're not. You'd just leave again and another escape attempt might end a lot worse than this one."

Tony grimaced and allowed himself to be pulled along now that he was reassured he wasn't going back.

"So...back to the office then?" he asked hopefully. He could get some work down, and Abby would let him nap on the futon. It wasn't home, but it was the next best thing.

Gibbs turned to him and glared, not slowing but making sure his message was clear.

"You aren't going back to the office. And apparently I'm not either. Someone's got to keep an eye on you."

Tony ducked his head and blushed. There was a reason he left the hospital. He wasn't _used_ to being taken care of. Didn't like to be a burden. He had to be all his childhood, he wasn't going to be now.

"Gibbs, I..."

Gibbs pulled him gently through the door, managing to get them completely down the stairs and to the door in half the time it took Tony to make it to the spot he had stopped at.

"You're coming home with me DiNozzo and I don't want to hear anything of it. We're calling Ducky and getting you settled."

Tony twisted his lips but didn't say anything, nodding quietly.

Gibbs looked down at him in surprise. He knew he had told Tony not to say anything, but he had expected some kind of protest, comment, joke even. The last thing he was expecting was nothing.

"Tony?"

Tony looked up at him and smiled. Gibbs looked at it with suspicion, the smile looked shaky, a little unstable.

"Sounds great boss. Always wanted a roommate, had one all through boarding school, didn't like me very much. Fought like cats and dogs the entire time. Be nice to hang out with someone who doesn't try to stifle me in my sleep."

Gibbs helped Tony in the car and paused to give him a look.

"Tried to...stifle you?"

Tony shrugged then winced at the pulling it caused.

"Told you, I talk in my sleep."

Gibbs grinned and pushed the door shut. He walked around and climbed into his front seat and settled in, but before he started the car he turned to Tony. The younger man was fidgiting in the seat, trying to hide the pain that was flickering across his face with every movement, and not meeting his eyes. Gibbs reached out and grabbed his chin, turning his face so that he looked him straight in the eye. It was obvious what the problem was here and he was solving it now.

"DiNozzo. I want you there."

Tony looked at him strangely. Now he was beyond confused.

"What?"

"You're not causing me trouble. You're not making me do something I don't want to do. You're not putting me out. I told you, a long time ago. Family isn't always blood, and family takes care of each other. I want you to come with me. This is where I want you to be."

Tony stared at him in surprise. He knew Gibbs had a good grasp on what he was feeling, what he was thinking, but he had never been quite so spot on.

"You're sure?"

Gibbs reached over and gently smacked the back of his head. Tony winced and nodded.

"You're sure. Got it."

Gibbs started the car and looked away from his agent, a small smile on his face. He pulled out of the drive in a smooth motion and sped up once he hit the road. Merging in and out of traffic he glanced at Tony from the corner of his eye and was pleased to see the younger man smiling softly and relaxing in the passenger seat.

Good.

Time to take his boy home.

**This is where the story is going to take a turn, it's going to be a bit more hurt/comfort, focusing on more of the two of them interacting and Gibbs getting into Tony's head. I want to explore their relationship a bit more and play with Tony's past and some of the pieces I've dropped throughout this story and Being Careful. I hope that works for everyone! But don't worry we still have some twists left that I'm not done with yet! There's still a problem at NCIS our boys have to fix! **


	18. Chapter 18

**So "tired" doesn't even cover it any more. Two nights ago my roommate needed help rewriting a paper so I stayed up half the night proofreading, rewriting, proofreading again and rewriting again. Then endless amounts of classwork, job, homework the next day then a person I haven't spoken to in ages e-mail me a speech and tells me that he wants to proofread it and then keeps up past midnight again to talk about all of his life decisions. I think all my friends are plotting against me to keep me from sleep. I really don't mind, but I have to admit, it would be nice if someone would ask me to do something instead of telling me to do it. A little politeness goes a long way. Oh well. Back to the subject of fan fiction.  
Anyway, this was supposed to posted a week ago, but things kept getting set in my lap with post-it notes saying "Renee the world will end if you don't do this right now!". Apparently the world spinning on was a higher priority.  
Now if you all will excuse me, I am going to bed before 3 am for the first time in almost 9 days. I hope you all enjoy the chapter, next one will be posted as soon as possible. So that could conceivably be anywhere between tomorrow and...December. I'll do my best for it not to be December. Actually I promise it won't be December. I'm rambling now.  
Enjoy the chapter.  
Night.**

Gibbs pushed open his front door and carefully guided Tony in, kicking the door back shut behind them. They moved quietly to the living room where Gibbs gently deposited his agent onto the couch.

"Thanks boss."

He murmured while curling in on himself, breathing slow and steady.

"No problem Tony."

Gibbs watched him for a moment, making sure that he stayed put before nodding and heading to the kitchen to begin to search for some supper and make some calls. He flung open his fridge while talking quietly into the phone.

_"Dr. Mallard speaking."_

"Duck it's me, I need a favor."

_"No doubt involving our young Anthony? I take it you found him?"_

"Yup. He was camped out on his apartment stairs charming cookies out his neighbors."

Ducky chuckled over the line, proud of the young man's ingenuity if nothing else.

"He's staying with me until he gets back on his feet, can you run by Bethesda and pick up his meds? The doc was talking about infection and antibiotics and I'm pretty sure he isn't supposed to be off them yet."

_"Of course Jethro, I was just getting ready to leave NCIS, so I can swing right by and pick everything up. Would you like me to stop by his apartment and get the boys toiletries? I am assuming you were unable to retrieve any of his belongings once you found him."_

"That would be great. Thanks Duck. See you in bit."

He disconnected the call and pulled his head out of his fridge and moved to his cabinets confirming that he had the ingredients for soup.

He placed the supplies on the counter and stared.

Gibbs gently ran his finger over the top of one of the boxes, smiling sadly. His mom always force fed it to him when he got the slightest sniffle growing up and his father had made sure he took the recipe with him when he finally got a family of his own. Whenever Kelly's nose started to water in anyway, she insisted on Daddy's soup.

Only daddy's soup.

He swallowed hard and turned away, taking a deep breath and looking for a pot big enough to feed both the men. Finding everything he needed, he moved towards the living room, intending to ask Tony a question, but it fled his mind the moment he saw his agent.

Tony was still sitting, bent slightly in one himself, one leg partially curled under him and his head leaning on his shoulder, completely and totally asleep.

Gibbs leaned against the doorway and watched the younger man for a moment, finally sleeping peacefully. He knew that while in the hospital Tony hadn't slept unless he was under the influence of some pretty heavy drugs, and then the sleep had been strained and impacted by vivid dreams and mood swings with general confusion whenever he awoke. The painkillers messed with his head something terrible. He just couldn't let himself relax enough to sleep.

Looks like that had finally changed.

Tony's face was relieved of all stress, the tight lines that had been around his eyes were finally eased and the twist in his mouth was the edge of a smile in the drift of sleep.

Seeing him relax, finally letting his guard down, knowing that he was safe, that Gibbs wouldn't let anything else happen to him, he had let himself go.

Gibbs walked farther into the living room and gently began to ease Tony down so that he was laying down against the stacked pillows, taking the pressure off his sensitive torso. Tony blinked his eyes open slitting them enough to see what was going on and blurry green regarded him curiously for a moment before shuttering back closed.

"Easy does it kid. You're fine."

Tony nodded and pushed his head into the pillow, muttering something Gibbs couldn't catch.

"What was that DiNozzo?"

"Thanks... Gibbs."

He reached down and gently ruffled his hair.

"Don't mention it."

He pulled the blanket down off the top of the couch and draped it over him, smiling as Tony automatically reached out and pulled it close around him, snuffling into the pillow.

Gibbs shook his head affectionately and walked back to the kitchen letting Tony rest in the knowledge of safety and care.

Sleep.

Then soup.

He could wait.

...

Tony stared up at the ceiling.

Not _his_ ceiling.

But _a _ceiling.

Interesting.

_At least it's a ceiling. Remember the time you woke up in that Chicago alley after that bad undercover? No ceiling. And rats. _

Tony winced and comforted himself in the fact that there was a ceiling overhead. Always good.

Well...that depended on who's ceiling it was actually, now that he thought about it. He had ended up some places less than hospitable and they had perfectly good ceilings.

_Might be a good idea to figure out who's ceiling this is._

He blinked a couple times, trying to figure out where he was and how he had gotten there. Last thing he remembered he had been talking to Mrs. Stine and then…

There had been Gibbs?

Yeah. Gibbs had shown up and that's about where it ended.

He yawned and turned his head, searching for answers. He wasn't overly concerned because if Gibbs was involved it couldn't be too terrible but it would still be nice if he had a general idea of where he was.

"I thought you were kidding."

Tony turned his face towards the voice, smiling when he saw Gibbs camped out in the chair next to the sofa.

Gibbs' living room.

Well...this was unexpected.

Definitely better than a dirty alley or a mob boss' basement.

"I probably was. What was I kidding about?"

Gibbs smirked and stretched his feet out on the coffee table, regarding him evenly.

"You really do talk in your sleep."

Tony laughed quietly, careful to jostle anything with the movement. He turned his head back the ceiling, looked at the warm wooded beams stretched out across the plaster.

"Told you so. Sometimes I sing too. Did you get the whole show?"

Gibbs shook his head, decidedly amused.

"Nope, just talking. A lot about Vegas. I think I finally understand why Ducky won't play cards with you."

Tony winced.

"Yeah...you really don't want to know."

Gibbs nodded and stood, walking towards the kitchen.

"I wasn't going to ask. Pretty sure there are somethings that would be better if I didn't know. I have some soup ready if you can manage to eat."

He made a face and shook his head.

"Not really all that hungry boss."

Gibbs turned and looked at him with firm eyes.

"Let me reword this- I have soup ready. Time to eat."

"Right, eating now boss. I love soup."

Gibbs brought him over a steaming bowl.

"That's what I thought. Eat."

Tony smiled at him ruefully and began to slowly scoop up the brew, moaning in contentment at the burst of flavor.

"Boss you can cook! Marry me. I can change, I swear I can. I won't leave my socks on the floor ever again."

Gibbs chuckled and gently scooted the man over, joining him on the couch.

"Heaven forbid if you were ever my type Tony."

Tony grinned up at him, happy in the familiar banter.

"Abby would spontaneously combust with joy. Imagine the Christmas gifts..."

Gibbs barked out unexpected laughter at the image of Abby giving them matching black bath towels with embroidered vampire versions of the two of them.

"Don't give her any ideas. Eat your soup."

"Yes sir."

Gibbs swatted him on the back of the head gently with one hand while reaching into the pocket of sweatshirt with the other and pulling out two small cylinders, squinting at their respective labels. Nodding to himself he unscrewed the lid to each of them and shook pills out into his palm.

"Here."

Tony wrinkled his nose at the medications.

"Think I'm good boss."

"Not a request DiNozzo."

Tony squinted his eyes and looked at him carefully.

"You know Gibbs, technically I'm off the clock so you can't..."

Gibbs leaned over until Tony was pressed against the back of the couch, his eyes wide and Gibbs inches from his nose.

"I strongly suggest you take the pills DiNozzo or when you get back on the clock..."

He looked at Gibbs with imploring eyes.

"Gibbs… they… they mess with my head. I can't control my mouth and my head just unravels. I can't...I don't handle that well. I would rather just have everything hurt. It's not that bad. It's really not."

Gibbs' eyes softened and he gently cuffed Tony under his chin.

"Tony, trust me. I got your six."

Tony watched him for a long moment, various emotions flickering behind his tired eyes before he took the medicine from his mentors hand and dry swallowed them. Gibbs nodded and picked up a book from the coffee table, relaxing back on the faded furniture. Tony grimaced at the bitter taste and carefully flopped back on the pillow.

"Yum."

Gibbs rolled his eyes and picked up the bowl of soup, setting it on his agents lap.

"Eat."

"If you insist boss." he took a scoop of the soup and closed his eyes in delight.

"This really is incredible."

Gibbs slowly ate his own bowl, his eyes staring blankly at his book, letting the memories wash over him.

"Yeah, I think so too."

Xxx

Abby squeezed Charlie so tightly the professor let out a squeak.

"Um...I'll miss you too Abby."

She smiled wide at him, her eyes red.

"I know we only knew each other for like a day, but I like you. You better keep in contact teach!"

She handed him a card with her e-mail and phone on it and looked at him expectantly.

"Oh! Um...here."

He offered her his own card and felt relieved when she bounced a couple steps away, taping the card to the top of her monitor.

She then grabbed an old Polaroid camera and spun around, snapping a picture before he had the chance to figure out what was happening.

She pulled the picture out and waved it in the air.

"Perfect!" she stuck it on the shelf above her computer. "Now I can keep my eye on you."

Charlie chuckled and began to walk towards the door.

"Thanks again for all your help."

He paused and looked back at the forensic scientist.

"I didn't really do anything, your agents got themselves out."

Abby nodded proudly.

"I know, but you would have figured it out if we would have called you earlier."

Charlie smiled at her belief in him and walked back over, giving her a brief hug of her own.

"You need my help with something, you call me okay?"

She nodded and squeezed him one last time.

"Promise! Now go before your brother comes hunting you down."

Charlie laughed and hurried out the door, running into Don at the elevator.

"Charlie! I was looking for you."

Charlie could hear Abby laughing as she overheard his brother. He rolled his eyes and pushed Don towards the box.

"Of course you were. Come on, let's go home."

Abby smiled and danced around her lab as she listened to them leave. All in all it had been a good day. She got her boys back, Tony was okay, she got to meet one of her heroes, and the bad guys were taken down.

Well, mostly.

She turned back to her computer and began to go through the search again, determine not to miss a thing.

She was going to find out who was giving Patrick information, and when she did, she was putting the entire power of her forensic abilities behind her in making sure they never hurt anyone again.

Especially not her team.

They were going down.

Xxx

It was the whispering that woke him up.

Gibbs didn't move, didn't give any outward sign that he had awoken, but he went from blissful unconsciousness to complete awareness in seconds.

And in those seconds he realized several things.

First of all- there was something heavy and warm laying on his chest.

Second of all- the something was a person.

He stiffened, then relaxed, oddly enough recognizing the faint scent of rain and linen that seemed to follow his senior agent.

He cracked open an eye and looked down to see Tony curled up on the couch, his head resting on his chest, soft hair tickling his chin.

How...?

Gibbs wracked his memory, but he couldn't think of when his senior agent had moved away from the edge of the sofa and and started using him as a pillow.

Tony shifted his weight and pushed his face farther into Gibbs tee-shirt.

"He knows. He...don't do it. Harrison… it isn't..."

Gibbs blinked and turned his head slightly to the side. Tony sounded distressed, worried. Frightened even. All throughout their ordeal Tony hadn't shown anything but calculated and practiced emotion, but now, now there was nothing but pure fear coming through his voice.

"Harrison...no...Don't!"

Tony gasped and gripped Gibbs' shirt, his fingers clawing into the skin. Gibbs reached down and wrapped his arms around the younger man, gently rubbing Tony's back, trying to bring him out of the dream.

"Tony, come on DiNozzo. It's just a dream, you're all right, everything's just fine. Come on. It's okay."

Tony shoved his head into Gibbs' shoulder with bruising force, shuddering slightly.

"Tony, everything's okay, it's just a dream. It's Gibbs, wake up."

Gibbs gently tapped Tony on the back of his head, hoping the familiar gesture would startle the younger man out of his nightmare.

Tony jumped slightly, his eyes flying open and his arm automatically pulling back. Gibbs reached out and caught the fist before it met its target.

"Wha-?"

"You always make a habit of swinging at your bedfellows?"

Tony blinked and focused his fuzzy vision forward, a puzzled look coming over his face when he realized he was staring directly at Gibbs' shirt.

His brow furrowed in confusion until he looked up, finally meeting Gibbs' eyes. His own eyes widened in shock and he jumped backwards trying to move out of Gibbs' space, but the older man didn't let him get away, still seeing the distress on his agent's face.

"Sorry boss, I didn't mean to… I was... asleep..."

"Yeah Tony, I know. Don't worry about it. You alright?"

He nodded slowly, confused.

"Yeah, fine. Just...fine."

Tony looked around awkwardly, still encircled in Gibbs' arms, warm and safe and completely out of his element. He shifted slightly, trying to get more comfortable and soon ended up in the same position they were in back with Patrick, his back pressed against Gibbs' chest and Gibbs' arms wrapped loosely around him.

"Making sure I don't fly away boss?"

"Making sure you don't hurt yourself. Stitches DiNozzo. You pull them you'll be bleeding all over my couch and then I'll be pissed."

Tony chuckled shakily and relaxed against his boss. Really though, it wasn't that bad. The ache that was throbbing down his spine was beginning to ease and he could match his breathing to Gibbs', slowing his own down and easing the strain on his battered torso. Gibbs was more comfortable than the couch anyways. It was nice of him to do this, no one else would. But then again, no one else would drag him home with them. Any other person he knew would have shoved him back in the hospital room or better yet just left him on the steps of his apartment confident that he would figure his own way out as usual.

This was nice.

Nice to be taken care of.

Nice knowing someone wanted you to be safe.

"Who's Harrison?"

Tony froze, drawn out of his thoughts of comfort and care.

Gibbs watched the emotion, fear, rage and overwhelming sadness wash over his friends face before Tony masked it all behind a blank slate.

"No one."

Gibbs reached out and carefully turned Tony so that he was forced into eye contact.

"DiNozzo, you mentioned him twice. Who is he?"

Tony hesitated.

"He...was my best friend growing up. Practically my...practically my brother. It's nothing Gibbs."

It was quiet for a moment before Gibbs spoke again.

"Doesn't sound like nothing."

He shrugged and looked away.

There was more to this. He just knew it. Gibbs narrowed his eyes.

"Practically your brother, don't remember you ever mentioning him. Would like to meet him sometime."

Tony grinned slightly, cold and bitter.

"Yeah, don't think that's going to happen anytime soon boss."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"Got something against us meeting DiNozzo?"

Tony shook is head, staring off into space.

"Would love for you two meet, but there's a slight problem with that."

"And that is..."

Tony chuckled.

"He's dead boss."

Gibbs titled his head back.

That was unexpected.

"I'm sorry."

One side of his lips raised in a sardonic smile.

"Yeah me too."

The room was quiet in the evening dark as each man retreated into their respective thoughts.

Tony knew he wasn't going to let it go. He remembered the dream and if he said anything aloud, anything from the nightmare, Gibbs wouldn't let it go.

He couldn't.

"You want to talk about it?"

Tony sighed, fully expecting it not knowing he wasn't getting out of it.

"Not particularly. But we're going to anyway aren't we?"

"Yup."

Tony laughed through a strangled throat and nodded.

"Right."

He lapsed back into silence, gathering his thoughts and memories. Gibbs waited patiently. This was going to be talked about. There was no way around it.

Finally Tony leaned his head back, resting it on Gibbs' shoulder.

"You remember when you asked if I ever hot wired a car?"

**Backstory in next chapter!**


	19. Chapter 19

***READ BELOW BEFORE YOU READ THE CHAPTER***

**Okay guys, so this chapter is mostly a series of flashbacks answering Gibbs' question from the last chapter and the hot wiring question from ages ago. So this is how it is going to go. Flashback then you will see XXX then it will be back to the present then XXX to return to the flashback. Got it? Okay, you can read the chapter now or you can continue reading the author note, whatever makes you happy.  
**

** So you know something that bothers me? The story of Rudolf. Honestly, a red glowing nose can somehow pierce the fog and make Santa able to see through the gloom and doom and deliver Christmas on time? Why not a lamp? Or a flashlight? Santa is making full fledged toys up there and kids ask for complicated stuff sometimes, I really think he could have handled making some headlights for the sleigh. I'm very happy that Rudolf was able to have friends and save Christmas, but I'm just saying that Santa was really irresponsible. He should have been better prepared for this. **

**Okay, that's all I got. It's been a fantastic couple of days and I wish you all a beautiful rest of the week. **

**I hope you enjoy and please tell me what you think!**

**Renee**

"Look DiNozzo, I'm telling you, it's foolproof. _Foolproof_. You know what that means? It means not even your idiocy could screw this up."

Tony rolled his eyes and continued to dribbled the basketball, lining up the three point shot.

"Have I ever told you Harry, that it's your constant loving support that makes you such a fantastic best friend?"

The teenager dodged over and attempted to knock the ball from Tony's hand, but the thin fourteen year old turned and threw the ball, watching it sink perfectly through the net.

"Don't call me Harry. Nice shot."

Tony nodded his thanks and chased after the ball, shaking out stiff and sore muscles. Harrison watched him and chewed his lip when he saw his best friend wince as he picked up the ball.

"Look, Tony, for once, just listen to me. This is a good thing. It's money, good money, and it's fast. You'd have enough to get away from your family in months. Buy a bus ticket, be anywhere."

Harrison moved to stand in front of his smaller friend, putting his hand on his Tony's shoulder.

"Please, just hear me out."

Tony sighed and nodded, dropping the ball and sitting on the ground next to it, silently inviting Harrison to join him.

"Thanks. Tony, think about. In less than a year you would have more than enough money to get out of here, you could have an actual life. You're smart you know how to get everything else you need, the papers, the legalities, all you're missing is the funds."

Tony narrowed his eyes.

"This sounds too easy and I don't want to do anything illegal."

Harrison raised and eyebrow disbelievingly.

"There's nothing illegal about it!"

Tony crossed his arms.

"Explain it to me again."

"All you have to do is pick up this package take it across town and drop it off. You don't see anyone, don't talk to anyone, it's easy. I've made almost two thousand dollars already. Do you hear me DiNozzo? Two _thousand_ dollars! Do you realize how fast you could get what you need?"

Tony blinked, calculating how quickly he could get out of his house if he had that kind of money.

He shook his head almost immediately as the thought came in.

No. He wasn't doing this. Something about this wasn't right.

"Harrison, this doesn't make sense. I don't like it."

The older teen threw his hands in the air and stood, pacing back and forth.

"I don't understand you!"

Tony started to stand, wincing slightly as his aching muscles complained. Harrison saw and stepped forward, automatically offering a hand to get his friend to his feet.

"Thanks." Tony murmured.

Harrison crossed his arms and glared at him, biting out-

"Don't mention it."

He immediately regretted his tone and reached out, touching his friends forearm and his voice softening.

"Look, Tones, I'm just saying, you can't keep living like this. You've got to get out of that house or one day...They're going to take it too far. Your father isn't going to stop them. He _doesn't care._ You need to take care of yourself, just this once Tony, do something for yourself and get the hell out of that bloody house."

Tony looked down, unable to meet his eyes.

"Yeah… I'm working on it. But I can't… it doesn't feel right. Something about this, just...Harrison I don't think you should-"

"Oh no Tony, that conscience of yours isn't coming over to bother me. I'm not hurting anyone."

Tony chewed on his lip and started at him intently.

"Look, just, be careful. Alright?"

Harrison sighed and shook his head ruefully.

"Make a deal with you, I'll be careful and keep my eyes open, if you be aware of your option and watch out for those idiot brothers of yours. I don't want to come patch you up again."

XXX

"Brothers?"

Tony jumped slightly, brought out of his remembrance. He shook his head as if to clear out the cobwebs and focused on something across the room.

Gibbs stared down at him in shock as the younger man avoided meeting his surprised and worried gaze.

"Tony?"

His agent sighed quietly and answered in a distracted voice, his thoughts obviously still far away.

"Yeah. Step-brothers actually, but Denise was really big on the whole family thing which of course sucked father into it. Was supposed to call them brothers and her...mom. Didn't work really well for me."

Gibbs frowned, sensing there was more to this story but was unable to decide where to land. Tony wanting to leave home, Harrison carrying mysterious packages, siblings Gibbs had never heard of…

"How long were they together?"

Tony sighed and looked up towards the ceiling, adding up the years long gone by and attempted to be forgotten.

"They dated for six months, lived together for another six and then were married for three years."

"That's..."

"A long time. I know. Dad didn't do commitment well but that was quite the stretch for him. I really thought it was going to last."

That wasn't what Gibbs meant but he decided to let that one go.

"What made them split up?"

"Inconsolable differences. She left and took the boys with her."

"What did you think about that?"

"Oh, them leaving worked out pretty well in my favor."

XXX

Tony gasped at the fist that crashed into his stomach, causing him to double over best he could with the hands tangled in his hair.

"Freaking f*g."

He groaned and opened his eyes a crack.

"Best I can tell, you're the one who can't take his hands off me Ellie, how exactly does this work?"

Another knock to the chin sent him reeling a few steps backwards and out of their clinging hands.

"Don't call me that!"

Tony wiped the dot of blood off his chin and straightened, ignoring the throbbing bruises now spreading across his torso. He smirked and bowed exaggeratedly.

"My apologies Elliot. Didn't mean to offend. Now if you'll excuse me?"

He began to edge away from the threat, his eyes on his step-brother as he moved towards the exit. Suddenly the door swung open hindering his process and he flinched minutely when he saw Keith step into the room, pushing the door shut behind him.

"Here you two are."

Elliot grinned at his brother and leaned his arm on his shoulder, letting the bigger boy take his weight and forming a threatening wall between Tony and the exit.

"Hey two tone."

Tony narrowed his eyes at the familiar slur and dipped his head in greeting.

"Keith."

The tall blond smirked at him.

"Looks like you two are having fun. Where's the party?"

"Party's on you two, I was just leaving."

Keith pouted, his lip sticking out even as his eyes glinted coldly.

"Aw, come on Anthony, don't leave now. It looks like you guys were having such fun."

Tony crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"What do you want Keith?"

He shrugged and looked over a his brother.

"What were you after?"

Elliot smiled at Tony.

"At the moment nothing. Kid has no money on him, nothing worth taking. He won't tell me where he's storing his cash. Keeps spinning the same story. Ticking me off."

Keith nodded understandingly.

"Running his mouth again?"

"You think he would learn, he's suppose to be so smart."

Tony growled and tightened his grip on himself.

"_He _is right here you know."

Keith opened his mouth in false hurt.

"Oh Anthony! I am sorry, how rude we must seem! Come join the conversation, you can tell us what you're doing with all the funds you're hiding. You know it's not very nice to be so selfish."

Tony curled his fingers into fists, his nails biting into his soft palms.

"I don't have any cash. I'm not hiding anything, not storing anything and I'm not keeping anything away from you. _I_ _don't have anything._"

Elliot chuckled.

"Come on Anthony, we all know you're set to inherit the big bucks, you have to have something stored away for a rainy day."

Tony sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I'm not getting anything. You two idiots would see the money before I ever would, and I wish you both the best with it. _I don't want it._ I never have. I don't have it, I'll _never_ have it, and I never did. I've been cut off for years. Now will you leave me alone?"

He suddenly put in a burst of speed went from standing completely still to flying past them, his eyes intent on the door and the freedom that lay beyond it.

He was nearly to the knob when he felt a jerk on the back of his collar, yanking him off his feet and to the floor.

He hit the wood with a grunt and had the air forced out of him when Keith suddenly sat on his chest, pinning his arms down his knees.

"I don't appreciate being talked to that way."

Tony attempted to buck the boy off his chest but his step-brother outweighed him by about 60 pounds and wasn't going anywhere.

Tony narrowed his eyes, truly ticked off.

"I don't see how that's my problem."

Keith grinned and pulled back his arm.

"You're about to."

XXX

Gibbs tightened his own hands into fists and stared at the back of Tony's head, his vision edged in red.

"They ganged up on you?"

Tony nodded, silently.

"How often?"

He shrugged thoughtfully and his eyes drifted up as he thought back.

"Oh...every other day or so. Keith was the star football player of private school and Elliot was always out to prove he was just as tough. They were in a constant state of one-up-manship and pounding me into the ground was how they kept score." he winced and rubbed his aching side. "I was a smart *ss and since I couldn't exactly fight back I would mouth off. Didn't usually work out in my favor. Remember they cracked a rib once after I called them… never mind."

Gibbs looked at him in horror but Tony ignored him, every kid is bullied, it's just a natural thing. And he antagonized them so he partially deserved it.

_Right?_

"Your father didn't..."

Tony laughed, harsh and cold.

"Didn't what? Intervene? Stop them? Tell me how to reach a peace with them? No. He just rolled his eyes and told me it was my issue, not his. Mine to deal with. He had better things to do, bigger problems to take care of."

Tony's voice trailed off as he tried once again to unsuccessfully to let his father's indifference roll off his back. With a visible effort he pushed it away and grinned up at Gibbs.

"Wasn't a big deal Gibbs. It was just a few years. Made it through just fine on my own."

Without thought, Gibbs lifted up his arms and wrapped them around Tony, crushing the younger man's back against his chest in a warm and gentle hug.

Tony froze in shock, not expecting the gesture, but as Gibbs refused to loosen his grip, he slowly relaxed into the embraced.

The two men were silent in the wide room, Gibbs picturing what he could only imagine and Tony trying to forget what he had been forced to dredge up.

Finally Gibbs cleared his throat and readjusted, not removing Tony from his arms but moving slightly to ensure that he wasn't causing the younger man any pain.

Tony started a little at the movement but quickly resettled and waited for Gibbs to get comfortable.

"You sure you want me to continue? I don't have to, you don't seem very-"

"Keep going."

XXX

Tony dropped bonelessly on the bed and closed his eyes, reveling in the silence that filled his locked room.

He never thought he would wish for the days where his father pretended he didn't exist and he spent most of his days by himself and being ignored by everyone he came across.

He grabbed the top of the headboard and pulled himself up towards the top of his bed to bury his face in the pillows.

He was so tired.

He heaved a sigh and was about to close his eyes and succumb to the irresistible call of sleep when he was interrupted by a tapping on the door.

"Ugh. Go away."

"Master Anthony?"

Tony rolled over and winced, glaring up at the canopy.

"I'm sleeping Botto."

He could hear the Spaniard chuckle quietly through the wood and then unlock the door with his master key. The butler had gone behind Seniors back to obtain keys for every room after Tony's mother committed suicide and none of them could reach her without breaking down the door and by then it was much too late to do anything.

The man stepped into the room holding a telephone receiver.

"Master Anthony, there is a Mister McCloud wanting to speak with you. It sounds quite urgent."

Tony lifted his head off the pillow and looked at the man with surprise. Why would Harrison be calling? Normally he just showed up, tossing rocks at his window until he came out.

"Urgent enough that you broke into my room? Alright I'll bite."

He began to stand up but Botto frowned and came to him, haning him the phone. The butler turned to leave but hesitated at the door.

Tony looked at him and waited but the man only shook his head and left, closing the door shut behind him.

Tony sighed quietly and put the phone to his ear.

"Harrison?"

_"Tony! I need some help, I'm in a load of trouble."_

Tony sat up and leaned against the headboard, his muscles going stiff with tension and worry.

"What do you mean trouble? What's going on?"

He could hear Harrison breathing heavily over the phone line and the panic coming through his voice clean and clear.

_"There was someone waiting for the package this time man, and apparently it was missing something and they think I took it because now they're after me!"_

"Wait a minute, who's after you?"

_"I don't know but they're big and mad and Tony I think one of them had a gun. I don't know what to do, please you got to tell me what to do!"_

"Harrison, you have to call the police!"

_"Are you crazy? I can't call the cops, you were right this was a bad idea but now I'm in involved and I need your help! Please!"_

Tony looked back and forth and finally groaned and pulled himself to his feet and stumbled over to his desk where his coat lay tossed over his chair.

"Alright, calm down. Where are you?"

_"8th and Rose."_

"Got it, 8th and Ro- _8th and Rose?!_ Harrison?! What the hell are you doing down there?"

_"Getting chased by large angry men! Please can you freak out about this later?"_

"Oh trust me I will, I'll be right there. Just...find a place to hide. I'm coming."

The line disconnected and Tony dropped the phone on his bed and hurried from his room.

He went down the stairs as fast he could manage, twisting and turned down the halls until he came to the garage.

"Michael? Michael!"

The man stuck his head out from under his father's rolce royce.

"Hey Tony! What can I do for you man?"

"I need a favor, I've got to get to 8th and Rose and I've got to get there now!"

Michael pushed himself out from underneath the car.

"8th and Rose? Kid that's and horrible neighborhood. I'm not taking you down there, your father would kill me."

Tony rolled his eyes.

"My father doesn't care and you know it. Please Michael it's an emergency."

The man opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by another question.

"And what, may I ask, is the big emergency?"

Tony turned and looked at his father in surprise.

"Father. Hi. It's... my friend Harrison. He's in trouble and needs someone to come and get him."

Senior shook his head.

"Well he'll just have to get someone else, I don't want one of my cars down there."

Michael looked at the man with disapproval.

"Or your son, correct?"

Senior turned cold eyes to the new mechanic.

"Where Anthony goes is none of my concern. But he will not take my property with him while chasing after other wild hooligans. Now, Mr. Philip's I have a couple questions for you regarding my Pagani."

Michael looked at Tony with regret but followed after Senior to the connecting room for the showcase cars.

Tony took a step towards them but then growled in frustration and turned back to the cars. Michael couldn't go against his father and keep his job so he certainly wasn't going to side with Tony and there was no way his dad was going to allow a single of his cars out to 8th street…

_You could always just...go._

Tony straightened and moved to the first car on his left, a 1966 ferrari 330 GTC.

_You are going to die for this._

He grimace and exposed some wires.

_Better me than Harrison. I sure hope I know how to do this._

Using skills he never thought he would use he started the car and listened to the purr.

_Now or never._

He could hear someone shouting behind him as he clipped on his seatbelt, hit the clutch, popped it into drive and flew out of the garage.

_I'm coming Harrison._

He was out of the driveway and on the street before he realized it and was flying down the road at such a speed that his father had no hope of catching up to him.

He could only hope that his 'family pride' would keep him from calling the cops.

XXX

"You stole a car."

"Yup."

"From your father."

"Uh-huh."

"A ferrari?"

"Sure did."

"And you were fourteen."

"You know what they say about being young and reckless."

"...where did you learn to drive?"

"Same place I learned to hot wire."

"The library?"

"And McGee says the printed word is useless."

XXX

Tony turned onto 8th street and slowed the car, his eyes wide and searching as they watched for Harrison.

"Come on, where are you?"

The teenager tapped his fingers nervously on the wheel and chewed on his lip.

He had to be okay.

He just had to be.

Harrison was his best friend. One of his only friends. He had to be okay. He couldn't imagine a world where he wasn't.

He went farther down the street and slammed on the breaks when he saw the faded orange backpack on the corner.

"Harrison!"

He put the car in park and jumped from the seat best he could. Running, stumbling, breathless and hopeful, he went to the backpack, crying his friends name.

"Harrison? Harrison!"

Nothing.

Except.

There was blood on the sidewalk.

Tony could feel himself start to go cold.

There was blood on the sidewalk.

And on the back of Harrison's backpack.

Blood.

No no no no no no.

He gripped the bag to himself and followed the trail to a building with smashed windows and a door that was connected by the knob but not the hinge.

"Harrison?" His voice didn't shake but his hands did as he peered into the darkness.

There was no answer but the blood stopped a the door.

He stepped though.

"Harrison?"

He continued in, past old and rotting furniture, remains of a bar and grill marking their dead territory.

"Harrison please answer me."

Still nothing.

Finally he turned a corner and he saw…

He saw.

Harrison.

He was sitting on the floor leaning against the wall, his face grey and his eyes wide, fear still captured in them as they stared up at the ceiling. There was blood staining the leg of his jeans, soaked into the faded material, but it was the small round hole, in the center of his head that made Tony's knees give out and make the acid bubble in his throat turn into a scream.

"Harrison. Harrison please…No."

He crawled forward and touched his friends face, sticky with blood, but it was cold. There was no light, no life, nothing that made Harrison left.

Tony choked and bowed his head, curling his knees to his chest and resting his forehead on them.

Quietly and painfully, he began to cry.

XXX

Gibbs blinked back a tear as he listened to Tony speak, his voice emotionless as he conveyed the trauma, the heartbreak, the complete and utter sorrow of losing his best friend. The only person he had.

"I fell asleep there, was woken up a couple hours later by the cops. They had seen the car, amazingly still there and hen found the blood trail. Harrison's murder was never solved. I check back every year to see if there was been any breaks, but it's been cold for almost 12 years."

Gibbs lifted a hand gently began to run his fingers though Tony's hair, trying to keep the younger man with him. He regretted ever asking about this.

"What happened when you got home?"

Tony laughed then, and it made Gibbs hurt to hear it.

It was sad, hurt, angry, resigned.

"He was furious. Not about me, or Harrison, but the car. First and only time he ever hit me, knocked me into a bookcase and gave me a concussion. I was out and confused for a couple days and then at the beginning of the next week I was shipped off to Rhode's Island Military school."

"Tony..."

He shrugged.

"It's alright. Got me out of the house, away from Keith and Elliot, away from father. The memories of Harrison. People left me alone there. Didn't care where you came from, just where you're going. That's what I needed. It was what I was looking for all along." he hesitated and looked out towards the window finally finishing with a whisper. "I missed his funeral. Father wouldn't let me go."

Gibbs was suddenly gripped by an inconsolable rage, one that he hadn't felt since...since...since the day those d*mned flowers showed up and he had seen just how little Tony's family cared. He bit back the fury and carefully ran a hand down Tony's arm, feeling the chill coming through his tee-shirt.

"I'm sorry Tony."

He nodded and leaned his head back on Gibbs' shoulder, his eyes slipping closed.

"Me too...I'm tired boss."

"Sleep."

Tony sighed and it was quiet for so long that Gibbs thought he had fallen asleep so he was startled when he spoke again.

"Gibbs? Can we never talk about that again?"

"I promise."

That seemed to satisfy the younger man who wiggled slightly, trying to get comfortable.

"Gibbs?"

"Yeah Tony?"

"Thanks."


	20. Chapter 20

******Hey everyone, sorry for the delay and the shortness of this chapter. For some health reasons I'm not actually able to spend as much time looking at the computer so I can't edit as well as I'd like. Please excuse any grammatical errors you see.**

"Missing? You mean to say for the second time this week I have two agents missing?"

Morrow's face turned red and for a moment the agents thought they were going to see steam come out of his ears. Tony would have been making a comment for sure.

McGee took a half step behind Kate to hide from the director's wrath but she only rolled her eyes and sighed. She wanted her team back to normal. It was one thing when McGee was hiding from Gibbs, but normally he didn't have to, Tony distracted everyone enough for all of them. Having all the attention on herself was getting old. Everyone wanted answers and she just wasn't finding them.

"But these are missing by choice. Chamberlain and Cass are gone without a trace. Pacci said he hasn't seen them since the day that we found Tony and Gibbs. He's called them, gone round to their places, gotten ahold of their contacts, nothing."

Marrow nodded.

"We're sure that they're Wilson's contact in the agency?"

Kate crossed her arms.

"Abby's gone through everything and had found constant back and forth between the three. They have some major explaining to do."

Morrow narrowed his eyes and bit back the growl deep in his throat. He didn't like it when people threatened his agency, and he especially didn't like it when his people were hurt. And the idea that the threat came from _inside_ his agency…

Heads were going to roll.

"BOLO's?"

McGee came out from behind his hiding place and nodded, his face pink.

"We have marks on their vehicles, their information being posted on every database we have access to. If they move we have them."

The director growled in his throat and nodded.

"Good enough. How are Agents Dinozzo and Gibbs?"

McGee started and looked over at Kate who smiled slightly and answered smoothly.

"Gibbs is fine, he took DiNozzo back to his place and they're both recovering there. Gibbs has been cleared for duty but he's only coming in part time to keep an eye on Tony."

Morrow raised an eyebrow.

"He took DiNozzo home with him?"

She nodded.

"Well… that's unexpected. Wonder how it's going..."

Xxx

"DINOZZO!"

Tony flinched but didn't lose the omelet he was expertly flipping one-handedly.

"Could you yell a little louder boss? I don't think they heard you back at HQ."

Gibbs stormed forwards and jerked the frying pan out of the younger man's hand.

"You're suppose to be in bed. What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Tony looked down at the omelet Gibbs was now holding.

"I believe it's called cooking, but I might be mistaken."

"What?"

"I was cooking breakfast. Omelets."

Gibbs raised his hands in the air, the eggs shaking dangerously.

"Did you think I wasn't going to feed you?"

Tony rolled his eyes and leaned against the counter.

"I knew you'd feed me boss, and would you put that back on the burner, it's not done yet. I just thought I'd feed you for once."

Gibbs frowned and leaned forward, taking a closer look at his agent and the dark circles under his eyes.

"Couldn't sleep?"

Tony shrugged.

"Actually I slept fine, just woke up early and couldn't get comfortable again."

Gibbs sighed and slid the eggs back on the burner, taking the spatula away from the younger man and jerking his head towards the dining room chairs.

"Sit."

"Boss I can-"

"Sit."

"Right."

He turned a chair so that it faced the oven and flopped down, closing his eyes, listening to the quiet sounds of Gibbs flipping the eggs and sliding them onto a plate.

"Eat up."

Tony shook his head.

"Those are yours."

Gibbs frowned at him again and pushed the eggs towards him.

"You need to eat."

Tony opened his eyes and looked up at him, all innocence.

"I will, I'll fix mine in a minute, those are yours. I made 'em special."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes.

"Special?"

Tony bit back a smile and nodded.

"Yup."

Gibbs sat and cut into the eggs before taking a cautious bite. His eyes widened and he cut another piece.

"DiNozzo?"

"Not telling boss. Secret recipe."

Gibbs stared at him incredulously. The eggs were fantastic.

"Didn't know you could cook."

He shrugged modestly.

"Spent a lot of time hanging with the family chef. I picked some things up."

"Apparently."

Tony pulled himself out of his seat and moved back towards the counter where the eggs, meat and veggies were scattered. He cracked the eggs into the skillet and began to add the rest as he chatted quietly with Gibbs.

"So what's the news on the Eliot's?"

Gibbs took another bite and sighed quietly.

"Jonathan and his children are being put into protective custody until we can find Chamberlain and Cass. We don't know if they're part of the plan to take out the agency or not so until we find them we're keeping the Eliot's location under wraps. Social workers have been called because of the mother's condition and there is a strong possibility they'll end up relocating to their grandparents."

"And Jonathan will go to jail."

Gibbs nodded and took the coffee Tony handed him.

"He has to."

"Wouldn't expect anything different. Just..."

"Maggie and Greg."

Tony sighed and flipped his eggs.

"Yeah. They at a safe-house?"

"Uptown."

Tony slid his eggs onto a plate. He knew the one.

"Cassie would move back to her mother's. She could stay with the kids that way. They wouldn't have to lose both parents. I don't know how much longer...the cancer… but some time is still good time."

Gibbs watched the young man flex his hand and move towards the table. He had really begun to care about the Eliot's. They had helped fill the hole that losing the Alexander's had caused.

"You going to head back in?"

Gibbs nodded and stood, gathering his things.

"Not the whole day, I'll be back this afternoon."

Tony munched on his eggs.

"Any way I can convince you to-"

"You're staying here. Doc's orders. Another week before you can even think about desk work."

Tony grimaced. Desk work. Joy.

Gibbs started out of the kitchen, heading towards the door.

"Keep out of trouble."

Tony looked at his retreating figure in response.

"Come on boss, seriously though, what trouble could I get in here?"

"Don't know DiNozzo but if there's a way, you'll find it."

Tony grinned.

"Would hate to disappoint."

"Just this once Tony. And keep your hands off my boat."

Xxx

"You sure about this?"

Chamberlain stared at the disappearing car and fought back the urge to slug his partner.

"Course I'm sure. Agent Gibbs will be gone for hours and DiNozzo's hurt. He won't put up much of a fight. He's so tangled up in this he's got to know where the Eliot's are. We'll get the plans and we'll finish this once and for all."

Cass sighed and nodded.

"Fine. Then let's do this, I just want to get it done."

The two stepped from the car and headed towards the two story home.

"Can you pick this?"

Chamberlain checked the knob.

"It's unlocked."

Cass stared at the blond standing next to him.

"What federal agents leaves his front door unlocked?"

Chamberlain shrugged and pushed the front door open, his gun drawn.

"Don't know Pete, but shut up. I overheard McGee and Todd saying DiNozzo has ears like a cat, last thing we want is him hearing us."

"That may be the last thing you want, but it's the first thing you got."

Both men whirled around but they didn't see him anywhere.

"DiNozzo! We have you surrounded, come on out and talk to us and no one gets hurt."

A soft chuckle drifted around them.

"You have _me_ surrounded? Tell me gentlemen, where am I right now?"

Cass shrugged and gestured uselessly at Chamberlain who rolled his eyes and mouthed- check the kitchen.

The man armed his gun and started up the steps while Cass followed orders.

Tony took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the curtains in the living room, coming after the man closest to him.

Tony reached out and wrapped his arms around the unsuspecting man's neck, catching him a chokehold.

The man began to struggle, but tony hung on, keeping his grip until he passed out from lack of air. Tony reached down and checked his pulse, it was strong and steady, he probably wouldn't be out long.

He nodded and straightened.

One down.

One to go.

He heard the sound of a gun cocking and felt something cool press against his neck.

"That was a very big mistake."

Xxx

Gibbs frowned at his agents.

"No sign of them at all?"

McGee shook his head and sighed.

"Nothing boss. We can't find anything."

Gibbs opened his mouth to reply when his phone buzzed. He looked down at it and his frown grew deeper.

"Text message. Why did DiNozzo send me a text he knows I don't-"

McGee stepped forward.

"You want me to get it boss?"

Gibbs growled at him.

"I can get it."

He flipped the phone open and began to press some buttons, the lines on his forehead going deeper. Abruptly his eyes widened and he dropped the phone snapped the phone shut, running towards the elevator.

"Todd, McGee, call back-up and get them on route to my house. DiNozzo's in trouble."

"Trouble boss? What did he say?"

Gibbs hit the button with a clenched fist.

"911."

Xxx

"Turn around."

Tony turned slowly, chewing on the inside of his cheek, his mind skipping over the possibilities. Gibbs was going to be so ticked at him when he got that text message.

"Mason Chamberlain. You really going to shoot me? I gave you my coffee once when you had been at the bullpen all night. This really the best way to repay me?"

"Shut up DiNozzo, you talk to much."

Tony nodded.

"So I've been told. Now what?"

"Come in the living room, let's talk."

Tony heaved a sigh and rolled his eyes.

"Great. More talking. Why do people tell me to shut up then yell at me to talk? It's all very confusing you know."

"DiNozzo..."

"Yeah yeah I know. Shutting up."

Chamberlain glanced between Tony and his partner laying unconscious on the floor before turning back to the agent.

"You're really just going to leave him there? That's kind of cold."

Chamberlain shrugged.

"He'll understand. Got to get the job done."

Tony nodded understandingly.

"Of course. And the job is?"

Chamberlain moved the gun closer to Tony, but the young agent didn't look away from the other man's eyes.

"The Eliot's. Where are they?"

Tony raised an eyebrow.

"You're still looking for the Gomorrah."

"And Mr. Eliot has what we need. So if you would be so kind..."

Tony crossed his arms loosely in front of his chest.

"I would, but unfortunately for you, I don't know where they're keeping him."

Chamberlain snorted.

"Really DiNozzo, you expect me to buy that? Gibbs knew and of course he would have told you. And you're going to tell me."

Tony shook his head and shifted his weight slightly.

"No, I don't think I'm going to and let me tell you why. All you have over me for leverage is death and you're not going to kill because then where would you be? You would have no answers and the death of a federal agent chasing after you. So then the tally adds up to, kidnapping, attempted murder, murder and oh lets not forget conspiracy to blow up a very important building. That's a pretty bad rap sheet Mason."

Chamberlain's eye twitched at he listened to Tony but his grip on the gun didn't loosen.

"Listen Chamberlain this can all be over. This entire mess."

Chamberlain growled and stepped closer to Tony, shoving the gun under his chin.

"Look you...gah. Just shut up and listen to me. You're going to tell me because if you don't I'm going to shoot you and then hunt him down myself and if those kids of his are in the way I won't be as gentle as Patrick was."

Tony's eyes darkened as he took a half step backwards so the gun wasn't stopping him from speaking any longer.

"Well, if you put it like that, I suppose I'm going to have to do something about it."

With that he swung an arm out and grabbed Chamberlain's wrist, twisting it and surprising the man so that the gun was dropped to the ground. It hit the ground and fired at the wall since the rogue agent had held the gun primed and ready for so long. Tony tackled the man into the coffee table, hitting the other man's head on the corner. Tony winced at the protest his body was making as stitches pulled and bruises were jostled as the man jerked away from him and began to swing at him. .

"DiNozzo! You son of a b*tch!"

Tony gave a right cross over the jaw and knocked the man back into the table, hitting his head and making him lose consciousness at the exact moment the front door burst open and Gibbs came rushing into the house, followed swiftly by McGee and Kate.

"NCIS! Freeze!"

Tony looked up from his spot on Chamberlain's chest and smiled at his boss.

"Hey boss, you missed all the fun."

Gibbs reholstered his weapon and grinned at his Senior field agent who was slowly getting to his feet.

"Thought I told you to stay out of trouble?"

Tony shrugged and moved over to the older man.

"I've never been very good a listening."

McGee looked at the agent leaning against their boss's shoulder and then at the two agents unconsciousness on Gibbs' floor.

"Tony...how did you… you're...they're...how?"

Gibbs smirked and looked over at his boy.

"Never underestimate a DiNozzo."

** Thank you so much for reading Being Aware, I hope you enjoyed this last chapter! Thank you to everyone who hung to the end and I am so so sorry about the wait, it's been a crazy past few weeks, I can't even begin to explain. Have a great Christmas. **

**God Bless. **

**Renee **


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